EU must become superpower for peace

In an opinion piece in the Helsingin Sanomat daily MEP Pekka Haavisto calls on the EU to play a more active role in the Middle East. "More than 800 dead - including almost 300 children - and over 3,500 injured. ... It is impossible to accept the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Back in 2003 the EU pointed the way to a Palestinian state in quartet with the United Nations, Russia, and the United States. ... Cooperation between the US and Israel is too intense to expect any independent peace proposals from the US. Now the EU has not only the opportunity but also the obligation to step in and take the lead in Middle East peace politics. ... The EU should promote the political process and make concrete proposals for a controlled ceasefire and subsequent peace agreement. The EU likes to see itself as a superpower for peace. There is now an urgent need for this great power in the Middle East."

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