Czech government wants to mediate Middle East peace talks

The Czech government has signaled its readiness to mediate Middle East peace talks. Prime Minister Jan Fischer said at the conference on the 20th anniversary of resumption of diplomatic relations between the Czech Republic and Israel that his government wants the European Union to adopt a common position on Israel. "Our participation in the Middle East process is given both by our friendly links and a quite pragmatic interest in our own future. These are communicating vessels," Fischer said.

The Czech Republic could not offer the might of a world power, but it was offering its experience and good relations with all the countries in the region, he said. Fischer stressed the need to coordinate the approach to Israel on the European level. "The EU is looking for the position and I dare to say that it has not fully found it," the prime minister said, adding: "I believe this will be one of the serious tasks of the future foreign policy of European integration," he added.