The European Commission Wednesday expressed "regret" at the decision by an Arab summit in Cairo to break off all regional economic cooperation with Israel, saying it was in the "interests of all parties to cooperate in matters of mutual concern."
A spokesman said the commission "has noted the conclusions of the Cairo summit and certainly regrets the conclusions which concern regional cooperation."
Arab leaders meeting in an extraordinary summit in Cairo last weekend after a new flare-up of violence between Israelis and Palestinians decided against "resuming any official activity in the multilateral framework and to end all regional economic cooperation that included the participation of Israel."
That decision could scuttle an EU-Mediterranean ministerial meeting scheduled for Marseille next month, a meeting at which Israel is to be represented.
The commission spokesman said proposals by the EU "to revitalize" cooperation between the EU and the Mediterranean countries "remain fully active ... even during this extremely difficult period."
Those proposals require participation of "all of the EU's partners" in the Mediterranean, he added – (AFP)
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