EU to work for Palestinian state in 2010: Spain

BRUSSELS — Spain, as incoming European Union president, will work to build next year a Palestinian state living peacefully alongside Israel, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Friday.

"My idea, and my dream, and my engagement, is to work for having in 2010, finally, a Palestinian state that could live in peace and security with Israel," he told reporters in Brussels.

"We are all in the international community defending the two-state solution. Why should we wait for a Palestinian state? We have Israel as a state, we want its neighbor, the Palestinians, to have the same status," he said.

However Moratinos, who was laying out the priorities of Spain's six-month term at the EU's helm starting on January 1, underlined that a Palestinian state could only come about through negotiations.

"It has to be done through negotiation, it has to be done by agreement, it has to be done through international community recognition," he said.

"It's not going to be easy, but I think it's needed. We need a Palestinian state, the sooner, the better, and that is going to be our objective," said Moratinos, who as Spain's top diplomat has been very active in the Middle East.

Middle East peace efforts are currently at a standstill.

The talks, which resumed in 2007 after a seven-year hiatus, came to a halt again when Israel launched a military offensive against the Gaza Strip late last year.

The Palestinians insist they will not return to the negotiating table unless there is a complete freeze on Jewish construction in the West Bank, including east Jerusalem.

The EU is the world's biggest donor of aid to the Palestinians but holds limited influence over the Israeli government.