A leading European statesman and a key figure in the organization of the European Economic Community said today in an interview that the European organization must concern itself with the Arab-Israeli problem.
M. Jean Rey, president of the external affairs commission of the European Economic Community, told the Brussels daily, Le Soir, that the six-nation organization of Europe should begin to play a real political role and should make its influence felt in the Middle East situation.
“We, almost alone, are in a position to help them to build a common existence,” he declared, “Neither the Russians nor the Americans can associate themselves economically with them. We are their main customers and we will have to intensify our relationship with them and begin, with them, to achieve solutions to the problems so violently highlighted today.”
M. Rey asserted that the present Middle East crisis could have been avoided had Europe dealt in past years with the refugee problem and the question of freedom of passage of the Suez Canal. He expressed regret that the members of the European Economic Community had been unable to agree on a common position on the Middle East at their recent Rome conference and said the EEC’s Council of Ministers could and should find a political solution to the problems of the Middle East.
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