The Palestinian Authority is the only possible and credible partner to seek peace in the Middle East, Spanish Foreign Ministry Jose Manuel Albares said on Monday.
Jose Manuel Albares made the statement while hosting the Forum for the Union of the Mediterranean in Barcelona.
Israel is not attending the meeting, which in past years has largely become a forum for cooperation between the EU and the Arab world.
Monday’s meeting was supposed to focus on the role of the union 15 years after its founding, but the meeting has taken on new significance since the October 7 militant attack on Israel and Israel’s ensuing war in the Gaza Strip.
The meeting is chaired by EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.
In his remarks, Safadi said that the work for a two-state solution must begin with “ensuring an end to this brutal aggression.”
Before kicking off the forum, Albares met with a delegation of foreign ministers from Arab and Muslim countries led by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
The delegation has been holding talks with international partners on the situation in Gaza.
Spain has been the fifth stop in the delegation’s tour that saw the ministers hold discussions in China, Russia, Britain, and France.
