Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)
The Quartet developed in April, 2002, at a meeting in Madrid between diplomatic representatives of the United States, Russia, Spain, the United Nations, and the European Union. It promotes a two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict, achieved through bilateral discussions between the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel, a rejection of violence, and the building of Palestinian economic and political institutions. The Quartet is responsible for supporting and implementing President Bush’s 2003 “Performance Based Roadmap."
Principals
The European Union represented by:
The High Representative for European Foreign and Security Policy: Javier Solana
European Commissioner for External Relations: Benita Ferrero-Waldner
Foreign Minister of the country holding the presidency of the EU: Luis Amado of Portugal
The Russian Federation represented by:
Foreign Minister: Sergei Lavrov
The United Nations represented by:
Secretary General: Ban Ki-Moon of South Korea
The United States
represented by:
Secretary of State: Condoleezza Rice
Special Envoy Tony Blair (June 2006- Present): Appointed in June, 2007, following the end of his British premiership. Special Envoy Blair is charged with securing international support for political institution building and promoting economic development in the Palestinian territories.
Special Envoy James Wolfensohn (April 2005- May 2006): Former president of the World Bank, appointed Quartet special envoy in 2005 by Secretary Rice. His mandate was to coordinate non-military aspects of Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, and to promote Palestinian development. Special Envoy Wolfensohn resigned his post 11 months later, citing the rhetoric of the new Hamas government as making diplomatic situation too difficult for further negotiations. In 2007 however, he told Haaretz his mission failed because his mandate did not include the authority to negotiate a peace settlement.
Other Envoys of Quartet Members
Russian Federation: Alexander Saltanov, appointed in December 2006, formerly Deputy Prime Minister. Served as the Russian president’s envoy to Lebanon during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
European Union: Marc Otte, whose mission statement sets the EU’s objectives in the Middle East as seeking solutions to the Israeli-Syrian and Israeli- Lebanese conflicts, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
United Nations: Since May, 2007, the UN Special Envoy to the Middle East has been Michael C. Williams, a senior UN diplomat and former adviser to two UK foreign secretaries. In September, 2007, Williams left his post at the UN to become Britain’s special envoy to the Middle East.
