Launching Phase II of the LAS-EU Co-operation Project on Combating the Illicit Trade in and Proliferation of Small Arms and Light Weapons

Opening

Ambassador Christian Berger, European Union

Cairo, 23 May 2022

Excellences, ladies and gentlemen,

The proliferation of small arms and light weapons facilitates criminal and armed violence causing injuries and death, and is an obstacle to development.  On behalf of the European Union, it is an honour for me to co-chair with the Secretariat of the League of Arab States, the opening of this meeting on the fight against illicit arms, a high priority for both the League and for the EU.

Allow me to welcome you and thank you for attending this important conference.

Also, my thanks on behalf of the EU to the League of Arab States for hosting the meeting today. Thank you for the excellent preparation and organisation that you have provided.

Today, we are relaunching the activities under our EU-LAS joint project on fighting illicit arms. The joint project on illicit small arms is born out of the EU-League of Arab States Strategic Dialogue. This is the overarching political frame for the project.

The illicit arms project is financed by the European Union with €6 million over 3 years. It is one of the major projects supporting the fight against illicit arms in the Arab region and it was adopted unanimously by EU Foreign Ministers last year.  It is a clear sign of the EU’s commitment to co-operate with Arab partners on an important security issue, illicit arms and illicit arms trafficking. For the EU, it is also part of our global strategy on Small Arms.  We believe that fighting illicit arms is conducive for internal as well as external security; a clear priority for High Representative, Mr Borrell, and for EU Ministers.

The organisations responsible for the implementation of the project are here today. They will accompany you through the next couple of days and be your partners later on should you want to profit from the various possibilities for support that the project can provide. Small Arms Survey form Geneva, the World Customs Organisation and Interpol. I would like to use this opportunity to thank you on behalf of the EU for the excellent job you did under phase 1 of the project. We liked it so much that we were able to get the green light from our EU Ministers for a Phase 2, which is starting now. So a big thank you to these 3 organisations and the expertise and training that you provide.

Finally, allow me to wish you a successful meeting and once again emphasise the importance that we give to this project. It is in our joint security interest and we have a very competent trio to implement.   Let’s make good use of their expertise, experience and competence.

Excellences, ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues from the Secretariat of the Arab League, thank you for your attention. I wish you a good meeting.