Brussels, 12/04/2011 (Agence Europe) - The EU has welcomed the arrest of outgoing president of Côte d'Ivoire, Laurent Gbgabo, who had refused to leave office after losing the election, and is placing its hopes in the elected president, Alassane Ouattara, to promote national reconciliation and help restore the economy devastated by civil war. The day after Gbagbo's surrender, EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg discussed the situation in Côte d'Ivoire and were expected to publish a unanimous conclusions document the same evening. On the same day, the EU Commissioner Andris Piebalgs announced €180 million in aid to help rebuild the country.
“I want to see the people in Côte d'Ivoire be able to have peace, a future, their economy restored, to get things back to normal, and for the elected president to take this forward. I look forward to this happening with Mr Ouattara very soon…. I reiterate my full support to President Ouattara, his government and the people of Côte d'Ivoire in their task of reconciliation, recovery and development.... As a next step, we are fully committed to promoting action to help bring peace back to the country. We will then provide long-term support to Ivory Coast to promote prosperity in order to guarantee stability and help rebuild the country”, said the chair of the meeting, Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security on Tuesday.
The previous day, as soon as the fall of President Gbagbo had been confirmed, Ashton issued a press release expressing the EU's pleasure that the election result was finally being respected, and setting out the EU's expectations of a rapid return to law and order and the end of impunity for people carrying out attacks. “Today, incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo was arrested by the Republican Forces of Côte d'Ivoire. I welcome this development, which marks a critical step in the resolution of a nearly five-month electoral crisis. I deplore the high price the Ivorian people have had to pay to ensure the respect of their democratic will, as expressed in the presidential elections of November.” The High Representative welcomed “the action taken by the UN peacekeeping mission, UNOCI, with the assistance of the French Licorne forces to protect the civilian population in Côte d'Ivoire” and “the united position taken by African partners, particularly the African Union, ECOWAS and WAEMU, in the face of the challenges to the democratic process in Côte d'Ivoire”, adding that “all perpetrators of human rights abuses must be held accountable for their actions”, now that Ouattara has pledged to take those responsible for such abuses to court. (A.N./transl.fl)