08/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - Ashton welcomes agreement between Guatemala and Belize. On Tuesday 8 May, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton welcomed the agreement reached by the ministers of foreign affairs of Belize and Guatemala on 27 April to organise simultaneous referendums on 6 October 2013 on submitting the territorial, insular and maritime dispute to the International Court of Justice. “This is an important step in implementing the Special Agreement between Belize and Guatemala signed on 8 December 2008”, under the terms of which the two countries undertake to refer their dispute to the Court, said Ashton's spokesperson. He said the high representative “believes that implementing the Special Agreement will contribute to a peaceful and permanent solution of the dispute and will allow for an increased cooperation between the two countries”. “Its implementation should improve the situation of the populations of the Belize-Guatemala Adjacency Zone”, he added. Guatemala has laid claim to more than half the territory of Belize. (CG/transl.rt)