Norway FM: Palestinian-Israeli talks expected after Knesset elections

Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende said yesterday that the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks could resume after the Israeli general election scheduled in March.

In exclusive comments made to the Anadolu Agency, Brende said: “A two-state solution based on the 1967 borders was the only way to peace between Israel and Palestinians.”

“That is also an important parameter of the Oslo process,” he said.

Brende was speaking from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa following his meeting with the country’s Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom. The foreign ministers of Norway, New Zealand and Serbia arrived in Addis Ababa yesterday.

Palestinian-Israeli talks ended in April last year after nine months of US efforts without any result.

Regarding his meeting with his Ethiopian counterpart, Brende said they discussed bilateral relations and the situation in the Horn of Africa, particularly in southern Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.

He added that his country was “following with great concern the situation in southern Sudan” revealing that Norway is coordinating with Ethiopia and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in Eastern Africa to end the crisis in the region.

Brende pointed out that Norway was also following with concern the developments of the situation in Yemen, noting that he discussed with his Ethiopian counterpart the impact of the crisis in Yemen on the Horn of Africa region.

For his part, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic told the Anadolu Agency that the meeting was aimed at restoring and revitalising relations between the two countries in economic, cultural, industrial and especially military fields.