Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on Somalia

Press release 240/2006
14 July, 2006

The European Union is concerned at continuing tension in Somalia and condemns recent fighting in Mogadishu. It urges all parties, within and outside Somalia, to refrain from action that might provoke further violence or confrontation and to comply with the UN arms embargo on Somalia. The European Union fully supports the efforts of the League of Arab States to facilitate dialogue between the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia and the Union of Islamic Courts. Following the progress made at the first round of talks on 22 June, the European Union urges all parties to participate fully and constructively in the next round of talks in Khartoum on 15 July.

The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia  continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.