The EU needs to take a more active role in the Middle East said Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki this week. “We want the EU to be active in actions taken in creating an independent Palestinian state,” he said, speaking with Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel a few days after Slovenia took over the EU’s rotating presidency.

According to Associated Press, Malki “said the 27-nation bloc should become a player, and not just a helper, in the recently revived peace process.”

Rupel responded by promising that, should the talks begun at Annapolis fail, the EU would resume a key role in the negotiations. “[I]f there is no progress, the EU will involve itself in the process again, as far as it can,” said Rupel.

Rupel added that the EU is “already quite a player in the region.” Last month the EU pledged $650 million for 2008 in support for the Palestinians.

As the United States declines in power, both the Israelis and the Palestinians will look increasingly to Europe to solve their problems. For more information on where this will lead, read Jerusalem in Prophecy by Gerald Flurry.