Remarks by the High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini at the joint press point with the Secretary General of the League of Arab States, Mr Ahmed Aboul Gheit, during the Foreign Affairs Council

Luxembourg, 03/04/2017 – It is a pleasure for me to welcome the Secretary General of the League of Arab States [Ahmed Aboul Gheit] today after his very nice and warm reception just last week at the League of Arab States Summit where I was very kindly invited to attend and address the Summit. And, just a few weeks after we met in Cairo at the League of Arab States, where the European Union joined the Arab League, the African Union and the United Nations for the Quartet for Libya. It is my pleasure and my honour to welcome him here.
We will have now an exchange with all the Foreign Ministers of the 28 Member States of the European Union, an excellent opportunity for us to discuss the many common issues we have on our common agenda, from the Middle East Peace Process to Syria, Libya, Yemen and also the many opportunities our regions share. And it is also for me personally an excellent opportunity to highlight the excellent cooperation we have started to have and that we will continue under the guidance of our ministers. We had very good ministerial [meetings] in Cairo in the end of December so it is on an excellent track, and I am very glad of your presence here with us. Also, just the day before our Syria Conference [Brussels Conference “Supporting the future of Syria and the region”] in Brussels; this is obviously one of the key fields of work we are sharing.
So, Mr Secretary General welcome very much and thank you for being here with us today.
 
Q. The Arabs in the last Summit were very worried about the announcement of Donald Trump [President of the United States of America] to move the [US] embassy to Jerusalem. Are you also worried? Are you sharing the same worry with the Arab world?
On the possible move of the US embassy to Jerusalem, I have expressed myself on behalf of the European Union several times. I believe our position is exactly the same as the one of the Arab League, which is that of the international community: we stick to the resolutions of the UN Security Council. The European Union and its Member States will not move its embassies to Jerusalem and we would discourage any kind of decision that goes in that direction. On the overall file of the Middle East Peace Process, I would say we share exactly the same approach; that of a clear two-state solution, negotiations between the parties and a regional and an international framework that can accompany them towards that goal, in particular in the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative that we consider also as the most useful basis for advancing in this respect.