A German proposal for financial aid to Israel for the damage caused by Iraqi missile attacks was approved in principle Monday by the 12 European Community foreign ministers at their regular monthly meeting here.
Israel was praised for the restraint it has shown under provocation.
The ministers insisted, however, that the grant to Israel should be balanced by an aid package for the Palestinian population in the Israeli-administered territories.
They also indicated greater European political activism in the region after the Persian Gulf war has ended to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict.
German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher initiated the idea of financial aid to Israel after he visited the Jewish state last month and saw the missile damage at first hand. He proposed a sum of $210 million.
Genscher told reporters after the ministers’ meeting that no amount was set. He said the European Commission would be asked to make a formal proposal as part of a “balanced and symmetrical” package, taking into account the needs of the Palestinians.
Apparently it was France which insisted that any aid for Israel must be balanced by aid for Palestinians in the territories. The French foreign minister, Roland Dumas, described them as suffering under a strict curfew imposed by Israel since the Gulf war broke out.
Israel partially relaxed the curfew Tuesday.
France, along with Britain and Spain, initially resisted the German proposal, arguing that financial aid to Israel should be a bilateral rather than an E.C. matter.
But the objections were overcome in part at least because the E.C. has offered financial aid to Jordan, Egypt and Turkey, which it considers “front-line” states whose economies have suffered more than any others from the Gulf war.
Earlier Monday, the European Commission, the executive body of the E.C., announced a separate $33 million food aid package for Palestinians living in the administered territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
It will be channeled through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees and the U.N. Office for Palestinian Refugees.
SPECIAL SESSION ON THE MIDEAST
In addition to financial aid, the E.C. ministers discussed Europe’s future role in the Middle East.
Foreign Minister Jacques Poos of Luxembourg, who currently chairs the E.C. Council of Ministers, announced at a news conference that the ministers would meet in special session on Feb. 19 to define an overall postwar Middle East policy.
“The European Community wants to be present and active in this postwar period,” Poos said. He stressed that it would “test” the community’s ability to shape a common foreign policy before its 1992 economic integration.
“The E.C. will propose to search for an overall solution of the multiple problems,” Poos said. “That doesn’t only include economic and financial assistance but also political and security aspects.
“A solution has to be found to the various conflict situations, and a balance of forces should be established along with a regime of disarmament control,” said Poos.
The E.C.’s goals in the Middle East will be pursued by its so-called “troika,” which consists of the foreign ministers of the country holding the E.C. chairmanship, the immediate predecessor and the minister to succeed in the position.
Currently the troika consists of Poos, Italian Foreign Minister Gianni de Michelis, whom he succeeded on Jan. 1, and Hans van den Broek of Holland, who will replace Poos on July 1.
British Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd insisted that “Europe’s contribution to the solution of these problems should be coordinated with the United States to see how they can best proceed.”
Hurd told reporters here, “There is no point in Europe and the United States competing in rivalry on regional security in the Middle East.”
He said the E.C. should discuss with the United States how an overall Middle East peace conference can be successfully convened with the participation of all parties, including the Palestinians.
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