A planned June summit between the European Union and Mediterranean nations will be delayed until November, dpa quoted the Spanish government as announcing today. Officials said the delay was needed to provide more space for ongoing indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Several Arab nations had vowed to boycott the summit if controversial Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman were to attend. The delay was agreed upon by Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak, reported the Spanish Foreign Ministry. Spain currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU. The summit is to be the follow-up to the first meeting of the Mediterranean Union put together by Sarkozy and Mubarak in 2008.
