European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will travel to Israel and Palestinian territories this month to make a last-minute push for talks ahead of a possible United Nations vote on a Palestinian state, an EU diplomat said, according to Reuters. Ashton is hoping to carve out a more influential role for the EU in the moribund Middle East peace process and has pushed for more western diplomacy in the region. "She wants to go back to the Middle East as soon as possible because she wants to continue her efforts to persuade the two sides to get back to the negotiating table and gauge what the feeling is on both sides," the diplomat said. Her visit is planned before a September gathering of the United Nations General Assembly, at which Palestinian leaders may ask for a vote on resolution on statehood if peace talks do not resume. The chances of Israel and the Palestinians returning to talks in the near future are widely seen as slim and western diplomats warn a vote at the UN would only raise tensions between the two sides. Ashton is also concerned a vote at the UN could expose deep divisions among the EU's 27 governments over their approach to the Middle East, and will likely discuss the bloc's stance at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Poland in September. "She wants to go to the Middle East before the next meeting of EU foreign ministers," the EU diplomat said. -- SPA
