Britain working against immediate ceasefire at EU meeting

euobserver.com

EU foreign ministers are divided on whether to call for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and islamist Hezbollah fighters ahead of crisis talks on the matter in Brussels on Tuesday.

The divisions on what line to take, following almost three weeks of fighting in the Middle East, were clear before the ministers even formally sat down to the meeting.

Asked whether she expected to agree to a common call for an immediate ceasefire, UK foreign minister Margaret Beckett told reporters "We will all be looking at what words there are and what the Finnish [EU] presidency is going to put forward now."

"Obviously we will look very carefully at what they say," she added.

The UK has spearheaded the camp of EU states backing the US in its idea that Israel's protection from Hezbollah should be guaranteed first before a ceasefire, a view also shared by Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.

At the other end of the spectrum, countries pressing for an immediate ceasefire are led by France and include Spain, Greece and Sweden.

Miguel Angel Moratinos, Spain's foreign minister, said "I think that what is necessary at this stage is to have a very clear appeal for an immediate ceasefire."

"That is what the Spanish government and so many other countries have been calling for and I think that today the European Union has to make this strong appeal for the end of violence and to return to diplomacy and political negotiations." Read more