Brussels, 12/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - On 8 June, on behalf of the EU, the Swedish Presidency issued a declaration in which it welcomes the humanitarian agreement of 2 June between the Colombian Government and the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC). The agreement was seen as "a positive step towards a necessary increased respect for International Humanitarian Law". The EU, above all, invites the government to continue adopting effective measures against paramilitary groups, and calls on the FARC to follow up its unilateral decision to release a large number of soldiers and policemen. It calls on Ejercito de Liberación Nacional (ELN) and other groups to immediately and unconditionally release those civilians who have been kidnapped and to "terminate the abominable and unacceptable practice of kidnapping". (For the full text, see above indications for CFSP Statements).