Incoming EU Foreign Policy Chief Says Europe 'Must Continue to Defend Two-state Solution'

The incoming European Union foreign policy chief, Spain's Josep Borrell, said during his hearing on Monday that he espouses the two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that he hopes the EU will continue to support it during his tenure.

"If anyone helps the Palestinians today and their right to have their own state, that is Europe," Borrell said during his hearing in front of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament in Brussles.

>> Read more: One state, two states, whatever: Israel, the Palestinians and the conflict | Haaretz special project

Borrell took to Twitter Monday to add that "the EU contributes almost one million euros a day to attend the Palestinian Authority. We must continue to defend a peaceful coexistence and the two States solution."

The Spanish diplomat noted that he wouldn't support such dramatic measures as violating EU-Israel trade agreements to promote such a solution, while responding to a question from a leftist member of the European Parliament.

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Federica Mogherini, the outgoing EU foreign policy chief, is an outspoken advocate of the two-state solution. She said earlier this year that abandoning it would only deepen the chaos in Israel and throughout the entire Middle East. "The two-state solution is not only fading away. It is being dismantled piece by piece,” Mogherini had warned.