EU Foreign Ministers to continue discussions on the situation in the Middle East
Government Communications Unit
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Press Release 313/2006
12 September 2006
The EU General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) will meet on 14 and 15 September in Brussels. Discussions will focus on the situation in the Middle East. The Council meeting will be chaired Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paula Lehtomäki will represent Finland at the meeting.
The EU Foreign Ministers will discuss the situation in Lebanon and the EU’s role in the region. Finland, as current holder of the EU Presidency, will emphasise the full implementation of the UN resolution 1701 with regard to Lebanon and the whole region. UNIFIL troops should be deployed to the area as soon as possible to prevent the creation of a security vacuum in southern Lebanon. It is essential that UN member countries participate in the operation on a wide front. The Foreign Ministers will also discuss the possibility of re-opening the peace process, in particular, in light of the formation of a new Palestinian government. The meeting will also discuss the Temporary International Mechanism, which was initiated in July to rechannel aid to Palestinians.
In relation to the Western Balkans, the Ministers will discuss the parliamentary elections, that were held in Montenegro on 10 September, and the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina prior to corresponding elections. The Foreign Ministers will receive information on future action with regard to the Kosovo status process and on the forthcoming EU troika meeting with Serbia. As the EU Presidency country, Finland has opened dialogue, in troika format, with Serbia to support, for example, the country in the implementation of its obligations under the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
The situation in Iran will also be discussed at the Council. The UN Security Council Resolution 1696, issued on 31 July, calls upon Iran to suspend uranium enrichment-related activities and comply with the resolutions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The resolution also gave full support to the cooperation initiative offered to Iran by the EU’s High Representative and the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States. In its reply to the cooperation initiative, Iran states that it does not accept the suspension of uranium enrichment activities as a pre-condition for the negotiations. High Representative Solana met the representatives of Iran at the beginning of September.
The Foreign Ministers will discuss Sudan and, in particular, developments in the Darfur region. The security situation and humanitarian conditions in Darfur have considerably deteriorated despite the peace agreement concluded in May. On 31 August, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution whereby the mandate of UNMIS operation in Sudan will be expanded to cover the Darfur area, too. The UN operation is seen as the only sustainable means of addressing the Darfur conflict which the International Criminal Court is investigating as genocide. The EU considers it important the African Union’s AMIS operation in Darfur would be transformed into a UN operation as soon as possible. The Sudanese government has, so far, opposed this transfer.
The situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will also be discussed. On 30 July, the Democratic Republic of Congo held its first democratic election in more than 40 years. The second round of the presidential election is to take place on 29 October. The EU will closely monitor the elections. The EU military crisis operation EUFOR RDC will provide support to the UN’s MONUC operation in DRC during the election process. The EU is ready to participate in security sector reforms that are vital to the country’s stability after the election.
Furthermore, the Council will discuss the situation in Iraq and, in particular, the international Iraq Compact process the aim of which is to raise international community’s political and economic support for the new Iraqi government and its government programme.
On 14 September, the Council meeting will be paralleled with the EU-Ukraine Cooperation Council meeting chaired by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Erkki Tuomioja.
Further information: Anne Huhtamäki, Counsellor, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Division for European Affairs, tel. +358 9 1605 6097 or +358 40 546 0456