Jordan urges France to play active role in Mideast peace

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah and French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian on Sunday discussed strategic relations between Jordan and France and the latest regional developments.

King Abdullah expressed Jordan’s appreciation for the French support of several development programmes in the Kingdom, stressing keenness to cooperate with Paris to realise security and stability in the Middle East, according to a Royal Court statement. 

On ending the stalemate in the peace process, His Majesty highlighted the importance of intensifying international efforts to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution that leads to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The King referred to the “important role” France can play in this regard. 

Talks also focused on the need to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis, in a way that preserves the unity of its territories and the cohesion of its people. 

Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Adviser to the King and Director of His Majesty’s Office Manar Dabbas and French Ambassador David Bertolotti attended the meeting. 

Also on Sunday, Safadi met separately with his French counterpart and later held a joint press conference in which he focused on the Middle East peace process and prospects for a peaceful solution to the decades-long conflict.

“We will work together and in partnership with the international community to create a political horizon to progress towards the two-state solution, whose prospects are being undermined due to Israeli unilateral acts,” Safadi was quoted as saying in a statement sent to The Jordan Times. 

He underlined France’s stands in support of the two-state solution, citing the Paris Conference on the Middle East in 2017 and the key role Paris played in UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which states that Israel’s settlement activity constitutes a “flagrant violation” of international law and has “no legal validity”.

Safadi said that talks also covered the Syrian situation, with both sides seeing eye to eye on the need to find a peaceful solution to the crisis there, adding that Jordan is working with the US, France and Russia, among other countries, to reach the envisioned solution.