Jordan's King Abdullah II conferred Sunday with visiting Romanian Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi and underlined the European Union's "important role" in reinvigorating the deadlocked direct talks between the Palestinians and Israel, according to dpa. "The monarch underscored the importance of the European role in backing efforts aimed at removing the obstacles that impede the achievement of tangible progress towards the two-state solution," a royal court statement said. King Abdullah urged "an immediate move to relaunch serious and effective Palestinian-Israeli negotiations that addresses all last status issues in the run-up for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state that lives in peace with Israel," the statement added. Baconschi also held talks with his Jordanian counterpart, Nasser Judeh, who urged Israel to stop all settlement activity in the Palestinian territories as a prerequisite for the resumption of direct talks with the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority broke off the US-sponsored direct talks at the end of September after the Israeli government failed to extend a moratorium on the building of settlements. During a joint press conference with Judeh, the Romanian Foreign Minister expressed his country's support for the two-state solution in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the cessation of settlement building and the immediate resumption of direct talks. He thanked Jordan for approving the building of a Romanian church at the baptism site of Jesus Christ on the eastern bank of River Jordan. Jordan and Romania on Sunday signed an agreement for cooperation in the sphere of peaceful uses of the nuclear energy and discussed ways for boosting trade and economic cooperation, the official Petra news agency said.
