Pressemelding

Nr. 72/1999
Dato: 28. april 1999

Utanriksminister Vollebæk ber president Arafat om å utsetja erklæring av palestinsk stat

Utanriksminister Knut Vollebæk ber i eit brev president Arafat om å utsetja erklæringa av ein eigen palestinsk stat. Brevet som vart overlevert av ambassadør Terje Rød-Larsen i Gaza i dag, er ei oppfølgjing av statsminister Kjell Magne Bondevik si fråsegn under president Arafat sitt besøk i Oslo 15. mars. Fristen for når sluttstatusforhandlingane skal vera avslutta slik det er nedfelt i Oslo-avtalane, går ut 4. mai.

Utanriksminister Vollebæk seier i brevet at oppretting av ein palestinsk stat no, vil vera skadeleg for fredsprosessen. Han oppmodar partane til å innleia sluttstatusforhandlingane så snart som mogeleg etter det israelske valet. Vollebæk gir uttrykk for håp om at forhandlingane vil føra fram til ein avtale som inkluderer oppretting av ein palestinsk stat som Norge vil oppretta normale stat til stat forhold til.

President Arafat ga uttrykk for at han ville orientera sentralkomiteen i PLO som no sit i møte i Gaza, om innhaldet i brevet.

Utanriksminister Vollebæk seier i ein kommentar til overleveringa av brevet, at det er viktig at palestinske styresmakter held fram arbeidet mot terrorisme og vidarefører sikkerhetssamarbeidet med Israel. - Ein avtale må og ivareta Israels legitime tryggingsinteresser, seier utanriksministeren.

Nedanfor følgjer teksten i brevet:

Dear President,

As we are now approaching 4 May, I would like to relay to you some of my Government's thoughts on possible ways of proceeding with the peace process.

Norway has a special obligation to support the peace process, since our capital was the cradle of the Oslo Accords, but also because Norway witnessed the signing of the Interim Agreement, known as the Oslo II Agreement. The Norwegian Government will therefore continue to facilitate the peace process in the future, as it has done in the past, at the request of the parties.

The fundamental questions about the future of the Palestinians await the outcome of the permanent status negotiations. According to the Oslo accords, final status arrangements were supposed to have been finalised by the end of the defined 5-year interim period. Norway understands that many of the Palestinian people feel that the peace process has not lived up to their expectations. For any people yearning for a better future, in dignity and prosperity, change can never come fast enough. The Oslo accords are based on the principle of land for peace, including the UN resolutions 242 and 338.

We had all hoped for greater progress by this time. Delays in the full implementation of signed agreements are of particular concern. Norway has urged for the implementation of the Wye River Memorandum and will continue to do so. It is also the position of the Norwegian Government that land confiscation and expansion of settlements should have stopped long ago, and Norway has urged the Government of Israel accordingly.

Despite difficulties we are still convinced that only a mutually acceptable political solution can provide the basis for sustainable Palestinian development. The principle of holding negotiations in specified sequences was a central element of the Oslo Accords that both parties agreed would facilitate the peace process.

The Palestinians should be the full masters of their own fate and their own land. Norway’s basic position is that the establishment of a Palestinian state should be negotiated consistent with the Oslo-accords and in the context of final status negotiations. We hope these negotiations will result in an agreement which includes the establishment of a Palestinian state with which Norway will establish normal state-to-state-relations. We urge both parties therefore to start up accelerated final status talks immediately after the Israeli election with the aim of achieving results within a defined period of time. A declaration of the establishment of a Palestinian state at this particular stage will in my opinion be counterproductive, and will strengthen the enemies of peace. Norway has therefore advised to postpone the declaration of an independent Palestinian state.

I would again like to express my deep-felt commitment to the peace process and my hope that both parties will undertake the final status negotiations in the spirit of good faith.

Sincerely yours
Knut Vollebæk

Utanriksdepartementet, 28. april 1999