An EU Foreign Affairs Council is held in Luxembourg
22 April 2024 News
The ordinary monthly meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council started today with a joint session with the defence ministers of the member states. Bulgaria was represented by Defence Minister Atanas Zapryanov and the country's Permanent Representative to the EU, Ambassador Rumen Alexandrov. The foreign and defence ministers discussed military support to Ukraine, with their Ukrainian counterparts Dmytro Kuleba and Rustem Umerov joining the discussion via video link. They briefed their European counterparts on the military situation and the parameters of the expected military support. ‘Bulgaria will continue to support Ukraine and its people for as long as it is necessary in all aspects — defence, reconstruction, achieving a lasting and just peace in accordance with the Ukrainian peace formula, food exports and others’, Ambassador Rumen Alexandrov noted in his statement.
The foreign ministers of the EU member states also discussed the situation in the Middle East, the Iranian attack on Israel on 14 April this year and the danger of an escalation of tensions. ‘Bulgaria is deeply concerned about the deteriorating security situation in the entire Middle East region. We strongly condemn the unprecedented and unacceptable Iranian missile and drone attacks against Israel’, Ambassador Rumen Alexandrov noted. He stressed the need to take steps to prevent further escalation of tensions. Concern was also expressed about the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza and especially the risk of famine in the northern part of the Strip. ‘Bulgaria supports all efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza’, the Bulgarian Permanent Representative to the EU added.
The Council also discussed the situation in Sudan. The UN Secretary-General's Personal Envoy for the African country, Ramtane Lamamra, participated by videoconference at the beginning of the discussion. The foreign ministers of the member states then focused on the implications of the crisis in Sudan, especially for the security of navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the possibilities of encouraging the parties to the conflict to negotiate and a ceasefire. The critical humanitarian situation in the country is of serious concern. As a result of the hostilities between the warring camps, nearly 8 million people have been displaced. There is a real danger of famine among the refugees in South Sudan. Some 25 million people, including 14 million children, are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance and protection. On 15 April this year, an international donor conference for Sudan was held in Paris, which raised over EUR 2 billion.
A High Level Forum on EU-GCC Regional Security and Cooperation took place after the Council meeting. This is the first forum of its kind between Gulf and EU states and builds on the agreement of the last joint session of foreign ministers from the two organisations, which took place on 10 October last year in Muscat, Oman. Bulgaria was represented by the Permanent Representative to the EU, Ambassador Rumen Alexandrov. The ministers discussed all issues on the current agenda: Israel-Gaza, Ukraine, maritime security and freedom of navigation, Iran, Iraq and others.