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Remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini upon arrival at the Foreign Affairs Council

08.04.2019
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Remarks by High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini upon arrival at the Foreign Affairs Council

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We will start with a point that is not formally on the agenda, but I think today we cannot avoid discussing the increasingly worrying situation in Libya with the [Foreign Affairs] Ministers. 

I just spoke this morning with UN Special Envoy [to Libya] Ghassan Salamé and I think the first message we need to pass - united - is the full implementation of the humanitarian truce to allow the civilians and the wounded to be evacuated from the city, to avoid any further military action and any further military escalation, and the return to the political negotiations and the political track.

I think Europeans will be united on this messages today as we have been during the G7 Foreign Ministers' meeting, in the UN Security Council and in the previous days in our work with the League of Arab States, with the African Union and with the UN.

The agenda today then will make us focus on three issues that are extremely important for the European Union global action. One is our support to the peace process in Afghanistan that has to start. We have been working very closely together with our American friends to prepare the ground for intra-Afghan negotiations. I was myself in Kabul a few weeks ago. It will be the opportunity for the Ministers to endorse the measures that the European Union can put in place to accompany and support this process.

We will also discuss our relations with the Eastern partners in preparation for the celebrations in May of the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership.

We will the have a point of updates on Venezuela. It will be the opportunity for me to debrief Ministers about the last meeting of the International Contact Group we had at ministerial level in Quito. I would expect that from this conversation an even stronger push will come out for the role of the European Union and the International Contact Group in trying to find a Venezuelan peaceful and democratic outcome of this crisis that seems to be even more worrying every single day.

So, as you see it is a full agenda and I will talk to you at the end of the day.

Q. [On Libya]

My personal impression is that Libyans do not need any more fighting among themselves. Libyans need dialogue and political agreement among themselves.

What we have seen in the preparation for the National Conference in this year, where the European Union has supported the UN process of local meetings and town hall meetings with a lot of popular participation, is that the Libyan citizens are ready for that. I believe the international community at large is ready for supporting unity and agreement among the Libyans.

I believe the challenge is now for the different Libyan factions and leaders to overcome personal interests and serve the Libyan people that want to turn the page, and find a compromise and a solution.

At the end of the day it is about sharing. It is about sharing the resources of the country, the power and the responsibility of managing a country that has all the potential and all the resources to become a success story, if there is enough responsibility from political leaders to exercise their power in a constructive manner and not in fighting each other.

I think it is time to do it and we will be there to support it.

Q. [On Eastern Partnership]

It is an excellent partnership, it is an excellent relationship. We had the opportunity to discuss this even recently in Brussels with the leadership of the country. It is a good story, it is a success story and I think it will also be highlighted in the months and the years to come.

Thank you, I will see you later.

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-171038

Category
Remarks
Location

Luxembourg

Editorial sections
EEAS
Foreign Affairs Council