The European Union is working to forge a common position to take if the U.N. is asked this fall to recognize a Palestinian state, despite disagreements on the issue, AP quoted Poland's foreign minister as saying on Wednesday. Palestinian officials are expected to request recognition as an independent state at the meeting of the U.N. General Assembly in September. Any common European stance would depend on a possible resolution's final wording, Radek Sikorski said. The 27 EU countries have agreed to refrain from revealing their individual positions while a consensus is sought, he said. France has said it will support Palestinian statehood if negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians do not restart by September. But countries like Germany or Italy are likely to oppose any such resolution. «But the agreed EU position, just as much as national positions, will depend on what the resolution says and we don't know that yet,» Sikorski said. Poland will hold the rotating presidency of the EU for the next six months. -- SPA
