EU Foreign Ministers To Discuss Support For Elections In Palestine - Borrell

EU foreign ministers will discuss at a meeting on Monday possible options to support the Palestinian people in holding their landmark elections, which are currently on hold until Israel guarantees that the vote could also take place in East Jerusalem, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th May, 2021) EU foreign ministers will discuss at a meeting on Monday possible options to support the Palestinian people in holding their landmark elections, which are currently on hold until Israel guarantees that the vote could also take place in East Jerusalem, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.

In late April, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that the first Palestinian national elections in 15 years, scheduled for May 22, would be postponed. Abbas blamed Israel for hindering the vote in East Jerusalem. He said the vote would be postponed until Israel allowed the participation of East Jerusalem Palestinians.

"It is important also to mention, I do not want to forget it, the fact that in Palestine the elections had to be postponed, the decision of postponing elections will be also something that we will discuss on the agenda; how to proceed, how to support the Palestinians on this issue," Borrell said before the meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

Borrell recalled that the European Union had been pushing Palestine for holding elections for a long time and blamed Israel for obstructing the vote in East Jerusalem.

Earlier in May, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said that the Palestinian authority was committed to holding the general elections, adding that the vote would take place in all the Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.