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EU ministers water down call for ceasefire - by ngrid Melander and Darren Ennis
European Union foreign ministers called on Tuesday for an immediate end to hostilities in Lebanon but dropped a demand for an instant ceasefire at the insistence of the United States' closest allies in the bloc.
A statement adopted at a rare August crisis meeting of the 25-nation EU said: "The Council calls for an immediate cessation of hostilities to be followed by a sustainable ceasefire."
The convoluted formula emerged from four hours of talks as Israel intensified attacks on Hizbollah guerrillas and vowed to step up ground operations, defying calls to halt an onslaught sparked by the seizure of two Israeli soldiers on July 12. An initial draft proposed by the EU's Finnish presidency had said flatly: "The Council called for an immediate ceasefire." But Britain, backed by Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and Denmark, insisted on the alternative wording and unanimity is required for EU foreign policy statements.
EU-Digest: "The above shows again how weak the EU's decision making process is at present without a Constitution which specifies a majority vote on foreign policy. Consensus always means accepting the weakest argument as the common denominator".
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