The European Economic Community (EEC) has decided to abstain from launching its own initiative on the Middle East despite anxieties about the lack of progress in easing the Arab-Israeli conflict. A statement at the end of yesterday’s meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the nine EEC member countries said that the ministers had discussed the Middle East but agreed that it would not be timely to make a joint proposal.
The decision is in line with the policy adopted at the last meeting of the EEC Foreign Ministers in London Jan. 31 under the chairmanship of the then British Foreign Secretary, the late Anthony Crosland. On that occasion, Crosland persuaded his fellow Foreign Ministers not to step out of line with American efforts to deal with the Mideast, in preparation for a reconvened Geneva conference.
Another reason given at yesterday’s meeting which was chaired by David Owen, the new British Foreign Secretary, for not making a major EEC statement on the Mideast was anxiety about the outcome of the forthcoming Israeli general elections. However, observers here doubt whether the EEC is itself really capable of adopting clear joint positions in view of the individual countries deeply entrenched and often competing interests in the region.
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