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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: July 4, 2006 |
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Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was to hold talks Tuesday with leaders in Finland, which just took over the European Union's rotating presidency.
Her visit comes as a deadline passed for Israel to meet the demands of Palestinian militants holding an Israeli soldier. Israel rejected any negotiations with the militants and pressed ahead with a military offensive in the Gaza Strip meant to free the captured soldier.
Livni was to meet with Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja to discuss EU-Israel relations.
On Monday, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU was "very concerned about the negative developments we are now seeing," and urged both parties to work to end the crisis.
"We in the commission are ready to assist all the efforts of our member states to give positive contributions," Barroso said during a visit to Helsinki, after talks with Finnish President Tarja Halonen.
Livni was to arrive in Finland from Moscow, where Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called for Palestinian militants to release the captured Israeli soldier and urged Israel to exercise restraint. |
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