Foreign Minister and Council President Ursula Plassnik today participated in a meeting of the foreign ministers of the G-8 countries in Moscow. At this meeting, that was primarily a preparation for the G-8 summit on 12 July in St. Petersburg, the foreign ministers considered a broad range of current foreign policy issues ranging from Africa, the Middle East and Afghanistan to North Korea.
At the centre of the discussion was the deterioration of the security situation in the Middle East. “The murder of the Israeli settler must clearly be condemned. Violence can never be the solution. But at the same time, we appeal to Israel to display extreme restraint in this difficult situation. It is a matter here of appropriate response”, Plassnik stressed. The foreign minister called for speedy release of the Israeli soldier and declared that Israel should release the imprisoned, democratically elected members of the Palestinian government and the Palestinian Legislative Council if there are no concrete charges against them.
“The deterioration of the situation is all the more regrettable because in recent days there had also been signs of hope”, said the foreign minister, referring to the internal Palestinian agreement to the so-called “Prisoners’ Document” and the meeting of President Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert. “The extremists must not be allowed to succeed in destroying this germ of a glimmer of hope. The region must not slide into a spiral of escalation.”
A further topic for discussion was the Iranian nuclear programme. “Today’s discussion in the G-8 confirmed the broad international support for the negotiation offer made to Teheran by Javier Solana. However, it is regrettable that up to now, Iran has not yet reacted positively to the constructive package that has been offered”, remarked Plassnik. The minister recalled that with this “Vienna Initiative” the international community has demonstrated its will to collaborate constructively with Iran. “The central demand being made of Iran and the basis of any agreement remains proof of the exclusively civilian character of the Iranian nuclear programme”, she stressed.
A particular concern of the Austrian Presidency was discussion of the Western Balkans. “The European perspective has served the countries of this region as an engine for reform and as a guarantee of democratic and peaceful development”, said Plassnik. With regard to Serbia, it is now a matter of “helping the country to help itself” and of how Serbia can be helped to work with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. “European support in no way releases the democratic forces in Serbia from constructive action of their own, however.”
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