Retno Marsudi to Rally EU’s Support for Palestine

Jakarta, MINA – Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, will visit Brussels to gather EU’s support for Palestine and deliver the outcomes of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Extraordinary Summit on Jerusalem held in Istanbul on Dec 13, Antara News reported.

EU Ambassador to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, Vincent Guerend, here on Wednesday evening (Dec 13) confirmed the planned meeting of Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and EU Foreign Minister, Federica Mogherini, to be held in Brussels, Belgium, on December 14, 2017.

“Minister Marsudi will visit Brussels after attending the OIC Extraordinary Meeting in Istanbul, Turkey. The meeting was proposed by Minister Marsudi to discuss the Jerusalem issue with the EU,” Guerend revealed.

The ambassador also confirmed that Mogherini had agreed to meet with Marsudi, as the EU also shared a similar view as Indonesia on the Jerusalem issue.

The view is primarily related to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, in which the two countries should be able to co-exist peacefully.

Guerend emphasized that the EU has a special responsibility with regard to the Middle East issue, mainly since the EU is always viewed as being on Israel’s side. However, at the same time, the EU also supports the Palestinians to gain independence.

“The EU supports both countries, Israel on one side and Palestine on the other. The two should be able to coexist peacefully,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, Marsudi, via a video message sent by Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Arrmanatha Nasir, from Istambul, confirmed that her visit to Brussels was aimed at conveying the results of the OIC Extraordinary Summit to the EU’s high representatives of foreign affairs and security policy.

“After the summit, I will rally support from other countries, including from the EU, by meeting the EU foreign ministers in Brussels,” she remarked.

In his statement earlier, President Joko Widodo had stressed on six points: the OIC must openly reject the US’ bilateral recognition of Jerusalem.

East Jerusalem is the capital of Palestine; All countries having embassies in Tel Aviv should not follow the US decision; OIC states are urged to draw support of other countries that have not yet recognized Palestine to acknowledge it; and OIC countries having diplomatic relations with Israel should take diplomatic steps in accordance with the resolutions produced by the OIC.

According to the two other points, the OIC countries are urged to take common steps to improve humanitarian aid, provide capacity building assistance, and enhance economic cooperation with Palestine and the OIC should be able to drive the movement at various international or multilateral forums to help Palestine. (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)