The President of the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council and Slovenian Foreign Minister, Dr Dimitrij Rupel, began today's visit to the Palestinian territories with a talk with the foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority, Mr Riad Malki, and with a meeting with the president, Mahmoud Abbas. As expected, the discussions focused on continuation of the peace process. Minister Rupel affirmed the readiness of the European Union to help accelerate the negotiations and expressed his expectation that an agreement would be reached before the end of this year. Minister Rupel also visited the Yasser Arafat mausoleum and paid his respects to the former Palestinian president.
