Mogherini chairs the monthly Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg
High Representative Federica Mogherini i gathered the EU i ministers of Foreign Affairs in Luxembourg on Monday 18 for the monthly Foreign Affairs Council meeting. The agenda included several pressing issues starting from the migration crisis to the common work with key partners.
Before the FAC, Mogherini chaired the EU-Tunisia Association Council. In their joint declaration after the meeting, the High Representative and Tunisian Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui stressed their common engagement on the EU-Tunisia special partnership and the work ahead to build a deeper cooperation. Mogherini praised the many efforts made by Tunisia after the revolution in 2011 and confirmed EU readiness to support the country further.
On the migration crisis, speaking to the press before the Council, the High Representative remembered the hundreds of victims of a drowning in the Mediterranean Sea exactly one year ago. The discussion on migration focused on the external actions that the EU has undertaken, especially the EUNAVFOR MED Sophia mission and the work with partners in the region. Mogherini updated the ministers on her recent visit to the flagship of Operation Sophia and on their achievements. The Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders i briefed his colleagues on his mission to Africa, in Mali, Ghana, and Ivory Coast, on behalf of the High Representative to build partnerships with the countries of origin and transit. Mogherini and the Ministers also received Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to discuss about the management of the refugee flows from Syria and in other parts of the world.
On Libya, the EU ministers of Foreign affairs and of Defence, and the High Representative will have this evening a conference call with Libyan Prime Minister Fayes al-Sarraj to assess the situation in Tripoli and to start a concrete discussion on support: the EU is ready to contribute with a package that includes economic aid. " We now have to have our teams at work to identify concrete projects in different fields that are the priorities of the Libyan people and of the Libyan government, on the economic, on the political and on the security side; and this will also be a discussion point that for the ministers tonight" said Mogherini.
The Eastern Partnership was also on the agenda. One year after the Riga Summit, the next ministerial meeting is foreseen for next month.
Last but not least, the High Representative received the special envoy of President Santos to the Colombia peace talks, the Colombian High Commissioner for Peace Jaramillo, who gave an update on the state of play of the negotiations.
Read More:
Council conclusions on the Mission Support Platform
Press release from the Dutch Presidency on the migration Talks in West Africa