Brussels, 02/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Sunday 1 March, the European Union hailed the progress made with the initialling of the peace agreement in Algiers the same day by the government of Mali and six armed groups, as part of the Algiers peace process (see EUROPE 11250).
“The agreement made in Algiers is a significant step aiming at establishing sustainable peace in Mali. The efforts deployed by Algeria for many months - as well as those of all the members of the mediation to which the European Union belongs - have enabled such a result to be reached”, say High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and European Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica in a joint statement (our translation).
The EU calls on the parties that have still not initialled the agreement to do so as soon as possible, after having consulted their base a final time, so as to mark their definitive accession to a text resulting from difficult compromises that have been bitterly negotiated between all the actors. Mogherini and Mimica reiterate that the EU will be an active member of the monitoring committee set up to accompany implementation of the peace agreement, and they reiterate the EU's commitment to supporting peace and development in Mali. (Aminata Niang)