EU Tries to Keep Mideast 'Roadmap' Alive

 

By Roger Wilkison

The European Union has unveiled a four-point proposal to keep the Middle East "roadmap" on track, despite Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's illness and a deadly suicide bombing Monday in Tel Aviv. The proposal, as well as aid for Iraq, and Iran's nuclear program, will be on the agenda of an EU summit later this week.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana says the "roadmap" is still the only alternative aimed at achieving a Palestinian state living in peace beside Israel.

As Yasser Arafat lies in a Paris hospital and Israel pushes ahead with a plan to withdraw its settlements from the Gaza Strip, Mr. Solana is calling on the EU's partners in the roadmap process the United States, the United Nations and Russia to accelerate the drive for Middle East peace instead of taking what he called an incremental¹ approach.

To that end, he is proposing that the EU help insure security in Gaza when Israeli forces finally pull out of the strip. But he did not give details of what the EU should do.

He also promised more economic aid for the Palestinian Authority and urged it to press ahead with institutional reforms that, according to one of his aides, would bring about more decentralization of power in Palestinian areas.

As part of that effort, Mr. Solana is promising² EU support for local Palestinian elections that are scheduled for next month. He hopes the elections will produce what he described as more interlocutors at all levels for the Israelis and that this will advance the roadmap.

The government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has shut the EU out of Middle East diplomacy³, preferring to deal directly with the United States. But diplomatic initiatives from Washington have been on hold during the election campaign, although Mr. Solana says the U.S. government, like the EU, wants to accelerate implementation⁴ of the roadmap.

The EU official says Israel should recognize that Palestinian institutions are working in spite of Mr. Arafat's illness.

Roger Wilkison, VOA news, Brussels.
注释：
unveil 公布于众
Tel Aviv 特拉维夫
push ahead 抓紧进行
incremental 增加的
decentralization 地方分权
interlocutor 对话者
diplomacy 外交
initiative 主动

 

1 incremental   

adj.增加的

参考例句：

• For logic devices, the incremental current gain is very important. 对于逻辑器件来说，提高电流增益是非常重要的。 来自辞典例句
• By using an incremental approach, the problems involving material or geometric nonlinearity have been solved. 借应用一种增量方法，已经解决了包括材料的或几何的非线性问题。 来自辞典例句

2 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

3 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

4 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。