BRUSSELS, Jan. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Union (EU) foreign ministers called on Monday for relaunching the Mideast Road Map peace plan.

    "Time is ripe for relaunching the peace process," said Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, whose country is holding the rotating EU presidency.

    He said the ministers encourage the upcoming meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and newly-elected Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, dubbing it as a "positive sign" for the Mideast peace process.

    In a conclusion issued by the meeting, the ministers "support and encourage the efforts of the two parties to relaunch political contacts at all levels."

    "The two parties and the international community must seize the chance to give renewed impetus to the Peace Process by relaunching the road map," said the document.

    The ministers reaffirm that the EU supports the implementation of withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and certain areas of the North of the West Bank as a first state in the overall process.

    "An overall peace settlement must also include Syria and Lebanon," said the conclusion.

    EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who visited the Mideast during the Palestinian elections, called upon both sides to "move toward the road map."

    "We are in the moment of hope.... Things are moving," he said at the press conference

    "I don't want to say that all the problems are over because they are not, but things are better today than before," he added.

    According to Asselborn, European Commissioner for external relation Benita Ferrero-Waldner will soon visit Israel and Palestine to push the Mideast peace process. Enditem