Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Benjamin Netanyahu and European Council/Global Health Fund.
Benjamin Netanyahu
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary were due to meet the Israeli Finance Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Downing Street tomorrow morning. Mr Netanyahu would also be meeting the Chancellor and a range of people in the City. His visit was clearly a useful opportunity to discuss the Middle East with him. Asked to explain why the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary were making a lot of fuss over the Israeli Finance Minister, the PMOS said that Mr Netanyahu was a senior member of the Israeli Administration during what was clearly an important time in the Middle East peace process.
European Council/Global Health Fund
The PMOS drew journalists’ attention to a joint letter from the Prime Minister and President Chirac to the Greek Prime Minister ahead of tomorrow’s European Council in Thessaloniki. It concerned the Global Health Fund, which had been set up by the UN in January 2003 to fight aids, TB and malaria. It aimed to raise additional financial resources to ensure that more drugs and treatments were available for the poorest countries, many of which were in sub-Saharan Africa. The letter called for EU heads to commit to matching the US contribution to the Fund of up to $1bn in 2004, echoing the call made at the G8 Summit. This process would be taken forward by a Donors’ Conference, due to be held by the French Government on 16 July.
Asked when the Prime Minister was due to return from the European Council, the PMOS said that on current plans he was due back around mid-to-late evening on Friday. The Zagreb Process Summit was due to take place on Saturday, but that would be attended by the Foreign Secretary. As Mr Straw had spelled out this morning, the European Council was significant inasmuch as it would set a date for the Inter-Governmental Conference (IGC) to begin, but it would not be a negotiation on the substance. In answer to a succession of questions about the timing of the Prime Minister’s departure from the Summit, the PMOS said that he hadn’t even arrived yet and added that he must make a mental note to be even more helpful on operational information in the future.
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