Brussels, 19/04/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 18 April, the European foreign affairs ministers spoke in Luxembourg about how the European Union can be concretely involved in Colombia once the peace negotiations between the Colombian authorities and the FARC have been successfully concluded.
At the end of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said that together with Colombia's High Commissioner for Peace Sergio Jaramillo they had discussed “European support to the peace talks”. They had also discussed European support “to the finalisation of the negotiations and most of all to the work we are ready to do together to make sure that the agreement can be sustainable and successful from day one of the implementation”, she said.
At the end of March, the European Commission authorised the creation of a trust find, which is equipped with €70 million from the EU budget in order to finance socio-economic projects in the areas most affected by the Colombian civil war (see EUROPE 11518).
On the sidelines of the ministers' meeting, Jaramillo spoke of “a consensus on the need to obtain quick results”, once the peace agreement has been sealed in Colombia. He mentioned “demining” and the “resettlement” of victims of the conflict as being among the projects that Europe could finance. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)