The EU welcomed the decision by the Palestinians not to declare an independent state

Date: 06/05/1999

this week. Palestinian President Yasser Arafat had vowed to declare an independent Palestinian state on 4 May when the five-year deadline for reaching a negotiated agreement with Israel under the Oslo agreement was due to expire. But he decided not to go ahead with the plan in return for a commitment from the EU and other countries to support a separate state in the future if peace talks do not deliver a mutually acceptable solution.