EUROPE TO LIFT EMBARGO, RECOGNIZE HAMAS GOVT.

EU agrees to back Palestinian unity government.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers agreed on Friday to back a Palestinian national unity government being formed by President Mahmoud Abbas with the Hamas Islamist movement, despite U.S. misgivings.

“We agreed that we have to support the new Palestinian government. It’s a very important turning point for the situation,” Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema told Reuters.

“(EU foreign policy chief) Javier Solana told us in the platform there will be recognition by the new government of the treaty signed by the Palestinian Authority in the past — it means recognize Israel as a partner,” D’Alema said.

Europe To Lift Embargo on Palestinians? (NYSun)
"European Union foreign ministers debated on Friday whether to engage with an emerging Palestinian national unity government after the United States said it opposed lifting an embargo on contacts and aid," Reuters reports.

Brussels and Washington have boycotted the Hamas-led government established in March because the Islamist movement refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and accept past peace agreements.

But many European governments are anxious to end the stand-off, which has contributed to aggravated poverty and lawlessness in the Palestinian territories, and see a unity government as a way out.

"We have a new Palestinian government. We have a new situation, and we should use it to get back to the peace process," Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, chairing the EU meeting, told reporters on arrival.

Hamas hasn't changed its stance toward Israel, so why should the Europeans change theirs? Of course appeasing terrorists (especially those terrorist groups targeting the Jewish State) comes naturally to the Europeans.