EUROPE must have a political role in the Middle East commensurate with the strength of its economic position, the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Romano Prodi, said yesterday.
Mr Prodi, in Cairo for talks with President Hosni Mubarak, is the latest in a series of European leaders to visit the region in search of an enlarged EU role in the Middle East peace process.
While he stressed that Europe was not expecting an immediate mediating role in peace talks, Mr Prodi said the EU's economic contacts could not be separated from political influence.
"Do you think that Europe will be forever the payer and that's all? Do you think this would be realistic - that we shall go on paying for years and years and increasing our economic presence and just shut up?" he asked rhetorically.
The comments came after Israel's rejection on Sunday of an offer by President Jacques Chirac for Europe to co sponsor the Middle East peace process.
Israel said that while it did not see the need for an expanded political role for Europe, the EU still had an important part to play in supporting Middle East economies.
The EU is the largest trading partner for most countries in the region, including Israel, and is by far the biggest aid donor to the Palestinian Authority.
The US, by contrast, has more modest economic relations in the area, but plays a far greater political role.
However, the US is widely perceived by Arabs to be biased towards Israel and many in the region have called for increased EU participation to correct what they see as an imbalance.
In Dublin last month, the EU decided to appoint a special envoy to the Middle East peace talks, but the envoy has yet to be named.