Kristian Vigenin participated in the Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg
21 October 2013 News
The European Union should focus its efforts on providing support to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia in meeting the criteria for signing the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement with the EU in the remaining five weeks to the launch of the Eastern Partnership Summit. This was said by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Kristian Vigenin during the ongoing Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg. According to him, without compromising its own principles, the EU should send a strong signal of support for the European aspirations of the three Eastern Partnership countries in order for the upcoming Summit to be successful. For this purpose, the EU must remain engaged with all countries of the initiative, regardless of the political choices of their governments.
In the context of the preparations of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius on 28-29 November 2013, the Council of Foreign Ministers discussed the importance of the upcoming meeting for strengthening the democratic reform process in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, and their integration into the EU economic area. The main results of the meeting are expected to be the signing of an Association Agreement with Ukraine and the launching of the Association Agreements signing process with Georgia and Moldova. Minister Vigenin proposed one of the concrete results that can be reported in this policy to be the announcement of the successful implementation of the visa liberalization plan from Moldova.
The EU Foreign ministers expressed strong concern about the political situation in Egypt. They called on all political parties to engage in dialogue, aimed at restoring the democratic process, and expressed willingness to continue to support the people of Egypt in securing their political, civil and socio-economic rights. The improvement of the economic situation in Egypt is important for the success of the democratic process, Minister Vigenin said.
The ministers of Foreign Affairs held a discussion and adopted conclusions on Syria, through which they expressed willingness to support the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in its mission to destroy Syrian chemical arsenal. They supported the call of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to hold a peace conference in Geneva at the end of November and urged all parties to respond positively to it. The foreign ministers called on the warring parties to provide humanitarian access for the EU assistance to the people in need. They expressed concern about the consequences of the refugee flow to the nearby countries. Minister Vigenin thanked for the support for adding a text in the conclusions stating that the dramatic refugee situation has an impact and raises concerns in countries that are not in the immediate proximity to Syria, among which is Bulgaria.
The Council of ministers discussed the difficult political situation and the severe lack of security in Libya in direct connection with the more frequent tragic accidents with refugees along the coast of Lampedusa Island and Malta. Minister Vigenin called on the Member States to use their bilateral cooperation mechanisms in support of the EU desire to normalize the situation in the country and especially in the security field. The ministers also held a meeting with the leader of the National League for Democracy of Burma Aung San Suu Kyi, with whom they discussed the EU support for the country’s reintegration into the international community after decades of military dictatorship.