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EU: Jerusalem must be capital of Israel and Palestine

December 9, 2009 13:15
A street in east Jerusalem. The new EU proposal will not call for the division of the city.

ByJessica Elgot, Jessica Elgot

1 min read

The Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has defended the EU’s statement on Jerusalem, which called for it to become the capital of two states.

Mr Bildt’s original proposal, which has firm support from Britain, recommended re-dividing the city, so that east Jerusalem could be the capital of a future Palestinian state.

A watered-down version of the Swedish proposal was approved by the EU, removing the recognition of east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, and referring to the Palestinian Authority, instead of “Palestine”.

The approved document declared that the EU was “seriously concerned about the lack of progress in the Middle East peace process” and called for the resumption of negotiations among Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Syria and Lebanon.