To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterpart in the (a) EU, (b) US and (c) Russian Federation on the proposal for a Palestinian state made by the Palestinian Prime Minister. (301859)

We are supportive of Prime Minister Fayyad’s two year plan to progress Palestinian governance and institutional capacity building efforts.

Making progress on these issues is essential for the creation of a future Palestinian State. The UK therefore discusses them regularly with key partners: EU Foreign Ministers most recently pledged their support for the proposal at the General Affairs and External Relations Council on 17 November 2009; my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has regular conversations on the Middle East Peace Process with US Special Envoy to the Middle East, Senator George Mitchell; and on 2 November 2009, the Foreign Secretary released a joint statement with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov where we urged:

“the Palestinian National Authority to continue in its efforts to strengthen security and the rule of law, building on achievements reached so far”.