Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ayman Safadi, on Monday held talks with his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg.
The two minister stressed keenness to bolster cooperation, and agreed to identify specific areas for cooperation as a starting point for a sustainable process to increase cooperation in the economic, commercial, tourism, educational, defense and security fields.
The talks also covered bilateral ties and regional issues.
Following the talks, the two minister signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on political and security cooperation that will frame methodologies for deepening cooperation and implementing the outcomes of His Majesty King Abdullah’s visit to Austria late last year.
Safadi and Austria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg, who is visiting Jordan for the first time as his country’s foreign minister, discussed regional and international issues, primarily the Palestinian issue, and efforts to maintain calm and stop escalation in Jerusalem and its holy sites, which, according to Safadi, can only be done if Israel respects the historical and legal status quo in the holy city.
In a press statement, Safadi and Schallenberg lauded ties between the two countries and opportunities for increasing cooperation in various fields.
Following the meeting, Safadi said that “maintaining the comprehensive calm, ending tension and escalation is a priority for all of us,” which is achieved “through Israel’s respect for the historical and legal status quo in Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.”
He added that the existing situation means “that the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque / the Holy al-Haram al-Sharif, with its entire area of 144 dunums, is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims, and that visits of non-Muslims are organized by the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf’s Islamic Awqaf Department, as was the case before the year 2000.”
Safadi said, “We have few days until the end of the holy month, and we hope that the escalation will end during this period, and we believe that Israel’s decision to stop non-Muslim visits to Al-Aqsa Mosque is a step in the right direction towards implementing the historical and legal situation, and we hope that it will contribute to maintaining calm and ending violence.”
He also stressed the need to address the roots of the conflict, by finding a real political horizon for progress in peaceful negotiations towards achieving a just and comprehensive peace on the basis of the two-state solution.
Source: Jordan News Agency
