Joint Press Release

The 9th Political Dialogue under the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union (EU) and Indonesia took place on 5 June in Brussels.

The Dialogue covered a wide range of issues of common concern related to bilateral EU-Indonesia cooperation, as well as regional and international issues, EU-ASEAN relations, and multilateral cooperation.

Regarding bilateral relations, the European Union and Indonesia expressed their interest in strengthening their partnership towards a strategic level. This reflects the robust fundamentals of their relationship, underpinning their growing collaboration and inter-dependence.

Sharing the same values, the EU and Indonesia underlined the importance of upholding and strengthening the international rules-based order and reiterated their commitment to multilateralism. In this context, the EU reiterated its support to Indonesia’s Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development accession process.

With regard to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the EU and Indonesia reaffirmed their unwavering support to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders, extending to its territorial waters. They called for an immediate, full and unconditional ceasefire, and a peaceful resolution of the war against Ukraine, and further urged a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in Ukraine in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law.

The EU and Indonesia expressed their grave concern at the latest and prolonged escalation of violence since the 7 October 2023 attack and the war in the Gaza Strip and the grave deterioration of the situation, including the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. They called on Israel to fully lift its blockade on Gaza to allow humanitarian aid to start flowing at scale into and throughout the strip. Both sides called for a resumption of the ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages, leading to a permanent end to hostilities. They expressed support for initiatives that contribute to a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace in Palestine in accordance with the two-state solution, the Charter of the United Nations, and relevant resolutions and initiatives, such as the High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution. They expressed grave concern at the situation in the West Bank and condemned the ongoing settler violence there, urging Israel to take decisive steps to address this issue and ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are held accountable.

They also shared their analyses on other major global and foreign policy issues such as the UN reform, the situation in Myanmar, and developments in the Arctic.

The EU delegation was headed by Olof Skoog, Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service and the Indonesian delegation by Umar Hadi, Director General for American and European Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia.