United Nations seeks to restart talks between Israelis and Palestinians
Bulgarian diplomat Nickolay Mladenov's term as UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East is coming to an end. In his last appearance before the Security Council, the man who has been the UN mediator for the Middle East Peace Process for five years has not missed the opportunity to invite a resumption of the talks between Palestinians and Israelis in order to progress towards a two-state solution.
The talks are currently totally blocked and Israel's internal situation is not conducive to progress towards a possible solution to this situation either. However, Mr Mladenov stressed that the objective cannot be other than the creation of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel, and that this should be the result of direct talks between the two parties.
Despite the current geopolitical situation, the former coordinator-though not yet official-of the Middle East Peace Process is optimistic that "a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians is still possible". The change of paradigm that the region has undergone with the normalisation of relations between both Arab countries and Israel is playing in his favour.
Mladenov urged the "Middle East Quartet, the Arab partners and the Palestinian and Israeli leaders to work together to return to the path of negotiations". "The conflict between the two parties has gone on for too long", he added in his last speech as coordinator of the region before the Security Council.
Nickolay Mladenov also showed his concern about the growth of Israeli settlements and the expulsion of Palestinians from their properties. This has led to a major deterioration in the situation in the Palestinian territories, which is further aggravated by the lack of funds of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In view of this situation the Bulgarian diplomat has renewed his appeal for aid to the region, as half the Palestinian population needs humanitarian assistance.
Although it has not yet been made official, Mr Mladenov will from now on be the UN special envoy for Libya, and will be replaced by the Norwegian Tor Wennesland, who will have the difficult task of mediating in talks which have so far been completely broken off.
La llegada de Joe Biden a la Casa Blanca invita a la esperanza en el lado palestino. Riyad al Maliki, ministro de Asuntos Exteriores palestino, que indicado que la Autoridad Palestina está dispuesta a volver a las negociaciones también con la nueva Administración estadounidense sin otras condiciones que las de respetar las resoluciones de Naciones Unidas.
El anuncio bajo la administración Trump de apoyar la anexión israelí de Cisjordania, llevó a la Autoridad Palestina que preside Mahmud Abbas a romper las conversaciones. El presidente palestino instó al secretario general de Naciones Unidas, Antonio Guterres a convocar una nueva conferencia internacional de paz para el año que viene que suponga el relanzamiento de las conversaciones, ya con Joe Biden al frente de la Casa Blanca.
Joe Biden's arrival at the White House invites hope on the Palestinian side. Riyad al-Maliki, the Palestinian foreign minister, has indicated that the Palestinian Authority is willing to return to negotiations with the new US administration without any conditions other than respect for the United Nations resolutions.
The announcement under the Trump administration of support for Israel's annexation of the West Bank led the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmud Abbas to break off the talks. The Palestinian president urged the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, to convene a new international peace conference for the coming year, which would mean the relaunching of the talks, already with Joe Biden at the head of the White House.
