01/03/2012 (Agence Europe) - Nuclear moratorium. The spokesman for EU High Representative Catherine Ashton underlined, on Wednesday 29 February, the announcement made by the People's Republic of North Korea that it would be establishing a moratorium on nuclear tests and missiles, including the uranium enrichment programme, and that it agrees to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to return. “If confirmed and implemented, these measures would be a step in the right direction”, he added. Recalling that the EU backs international efforts to achieve “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation”, he explained that the EU is willing to continue to work with its international partners and with North Korea “in pursuit of lasting peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula”. Pyongyang gave its agreement, on Wednesday, to a moratorium on its nuclear activity in exchange for US food aid. (CG/tarnsl.jl)