EU ministers split on recognising state of Palestine

EU foreign ministers were split over a proposal to recognise an independent Palestinian state at their meeting last night, and did not agree to sanctions against Israel for failing to extend the moratorium on settlements.

Instead their efforts continue to concentrate on trying to restart direct talks to get Israel to agree to a settlement freeze, which the US admitted last week they had failed to achieve.

“We need to look at how to proceed,” said a spokesperson for the EU’s external action chief Catherine Ashton, adding that they regretted that the US is no longer calling for a halt to settlements but said the EU’s position has not changed.