Closer EU-US Cooperation Urged on Balkans, Middle EastEuropean Commission President Romano Prodi called Tuesday for closer cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the United States on the issues of the Western Balkans and the Middle East.After meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Colin Powell here, Prodi said, "The EU has assumed the leading responsibility in stabilizing the Western Balkans and is carrying the bulk of the burden both financially as well as military." He expressed the hope that the new US Administration will continue to work very closely alongside the EU in helping build lasting peace and security in this vulnerable part of Europe. On the Middle East, Prodi said the region should now become a major plank of EU-US foreign policy cooperation. "We were pleased to see that the US message to the new Israeli leadership coincided with ours: to end the policy of closure. Both sides will hasten that outcome if they step back from violence," he noted. "We will work closely with the US for an international donor' s effort to ensure that the Palestinian Authority can continue to function properly, with an internationally supervised austerity budget," he added. Powell, who arrived here early Tuesday after a Middle East tour, held discussions with his 18 NATO counterparts before meeting Prodi and EU Commissioner Chris Patten. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |