Brussels, 07/06/2000 (Agence Europe) - EU foreign ministers will hold a working luncheon on 14 June with their Indonesian counterpart, Minister Shihab, on the fringe of the General Affairs Council, it was confirmed on Wednesday by the EU Member States' Permanent Representatives.
"On that occasion, we will certainly discuss the future of our relations and we are confident that we shall adopt a Joint Declaration that will serve as the basis and framework for our future work - a solid EU-Indonesia strategic partnership for the 21st century", said Council President Jaime Gama, during his visit to Jakarta last week.
The EU Council had adopted, on 20 March, conclusions in which the EU pledges to support the efforts of the Abdurrahman Wahid government to strengthen democracy, ensure the respect for human rights, reform its military and judicial systems, enhance the rule of law and good governance, restore the vitality of its economy and solve its internal conflicts through dialogue, recalled Jaime Gama, who hoped that the visit by External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten to Jakarta (probably mid-July) would allow concrete cooperation projects to be specified for implementation of these ambitions. The Portuguese Minister insisted also on the central role of Indonesia in the development of relations between the EU and the Association of South East Asian Nations (see other article).