The President of the Council of Europe, Leo Tindemans, told the leadership of the World Jewish Congress European Branch that his forthcoming visit to the Middle East is intended to reassess the role the European Economic Community (EEC) can play in promoting peace in the Mideast in light of changes in the international arena since the EEC formulated its policy in Venice in 1980 which included a call for the Palestine Liberation Organization to be associated with the peace process.
The changes he cited during his private meeting with the WJC leaders here included the election of Ronald Reagan as President of the United States, the reelection of Menachem Begin as Premier of Israel, the election of Francois Mitterrand as President of France, the assassination of President Anwar Sadat of Egypt, and Mitterrand’s trip to Israel.
Tindemans, who is Foreign Minister of Belgium and who was elected President of the EEC at the beginning of the year, explained that his forthcoming visit would be a fact-finding mission to determine how the basis for European political cooperation on Middle East policy could be structured.
It was his hope, he said, that following his visit the EEC would be in a position to propose what he termed confidence-building methods to the leaders of the Mideast nations. In working toward that objective, Tindemans said the EEC might seek ways to extend the peace between Egypt and Israel to other countries in the area on a progressive basis.
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