Two senior EU diplomats to visit Egypt: report

Two senior European Union (EU) diplomats are expected to visit Egypt at the end of this month for talks with Egyptian officials over Mideast issues, Egypt's MENA news agency reported Monday.

MENA quoted head of the EU mission in Egypt Klaus Ebermann as saying that EU Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will come to Cairo for talks on the latest Middle East developments.

Ferrero-Waldner is expected to visit Egypt during Feb. 25-26 while the exact date of Solana's visit is still undecided, according to MENA.

The two visits are planned after the International Quartet's meeting in Washington, which was attended by both Solana and Ferrero-Waldner, Ebermann said.

The Quartet, grouping the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, held a foreign ministerial meeting in Washington on Friday.

The Quartet has agreed on giving a strong impetus to the Mideast peace process through the implementation of the roadmap, Ebermann said, adding that the European side will launch several initiatives in the coming period to push forward the Mideast peace process.

Asked about the possibility that the U.S. would abandon its main role in the peace process which will be taken over by the EU, Ebermann said the U.S. is focusing on Iraq and would welcome any move to revitalize the peace process.

The two planned visits were announced when German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, was visiting the UAE, the third leg of her four-nation Mideast tour which has taken her to Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Source: Xinhua