President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday met with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at his place of residence in New York.

Abbas briefed Michel on the latest developments on the Palestinian arena, namely the deadlock in the peace process, the dire conditions experienced by the Palestinian people suffering under the yoke of Israeli occupation and the latest US decisions detrimental to the peace process.

He urged the European Union to find a way out of this unsustainable situation and reminded Michel of the peace plan he proposed at the UN Security Council in February that called for an international peace conference and the establishment of a multilateral mechanism to oversee the peace process and negotiations with a goal to achieve the two-state solution.

On his part, Michel reiterated his country’s efforts for regional peace, stability and security.

“We support the rule of law and we consider it important to respect the international law. That is why ]it is important for Belgium and Europe[ to be a positive player in order to support all the efforts for peace, for stability and for security,” he said.

Commenting on the significance of the meeting, he noted that the meeting was designed to explore the “best possible ]way[ for Europe to play a stronger and positive role to promote the respect of international law.”