The need for the resumption of political dialogue and a ceasefire sustained by confidence building measures are the key themes of the visit to the Middle East by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, which begins today. It includes meetings with political leaders in Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Syria and Lebanon.
The Minister exchanged views on the Middle East with his European counterparts at the weekend, during the informal meeting of EU foreign ministers at Genval, outside the Belgian capital. A meeting with the President of Egypt, Mr Hosni Mubarak is due to take place in Cairo today. Tonight he flies to Tel Aviv for a dinner with the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr Shimon Peres.
Speaking in Brussels before his departure, Mr Cowen stressed the need to implement the report of the international committee chaired by Senator George Mitchell, which called for a ceasefire, a halt to the building of settlements by the Israelis and the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation as part of a comprehensive peace effort.
"My visit should be seen in the context that the EU has had a strong involvement in the process in recent years, and an increasingly effective one," Mr Cowen said. "I would be putting the view forward that the Mitchell report is the means by which we get out of this spiralling titfor-tat violence.
"The fact of the matter is we are working against a deteriorating background, and there is a need for everyone to recognise that the provision of security for everybody requires a political framework, so it is important that the Mitchell report gets activated.
"Everybody seems to be agreed on broad principles, but we haven't found an implementation mechanism for the Mitchell process to start.
"First of all, the idea that . . . one has to await total calm and total absence of all violence in every respect in order to begin the process of confidence-building measures is something that is very difficult to achieve and is postponing the promise that is provided in the Mitchell report to stabilise the situation and get back into a political dialogue," the Minister said.
"I would be hoping that the proposed meetings between Peres and Arafat would provide a basis upon which this political dialogue can gain some momentum and get moving."
He was a firm believer in dialogue, he said. "At some stage dialogue must take place. It would be far better if it took place in more benign circumstances than presently, but there is a responsibility on everyone to try and regain the initiative for the peace process."
The problem was that the Mitchell report had not left the starting blocks. "My view all along, and what I think is the correct interpretation of the Mitchell report, is that a ceasefire sustained by confidence building measures is the means by which political dialogue takes place rather than a ceasefire to be rewarded by confidence-building measures," Mr Cowen said.
It was necessary for both sides to be able to show their respective peoples that their leaders could find a means of getting out of the present impasse. Those who were committed to peace had to retain, and if necessary regain, the initiative. The Minister will be using the visit to listen to the views of the parties and assess the up-to-date situation as preparation for the Irish presidency of the UN Security Council next month.