Cairo, 04/11/2015
Thank you very much.
This is my first time here in the headquarters of the
League of Arab States, and I am very proud of the relationship, the
partnership, the cooperation we have established between the European Union and
the League of Arab States, notably on the many crises that we have around our
region. We share a region that is indeed one of the most complicated and most
conflictual ones. This requires from our side a common effort to prevent
further crisis, to manage those that are currently ongoing and to find common
solutions to put an end to the wars and the conflicts we are facing around us,
from Libya, to Syria to the lack of Middle East Peace Process that is commonly
concerning us very, very much. On all these three things and furthermore than
that, we are working very much together. But we also have the opportunities of
our common region that are on our common agenda.
Sharing a region means also sharing a space, a
geographical space, a historical space. We feel this common responsibility on
our shoulders to make sure that our peoples benefit from our cooperation in a
very direct way. We are somehow complementary to each other and we are friends.
That is why I am again a little bit shocked even myself by realising that this
is the first time I visit you here. So often we meet either in Brussels or New
York or everywhere, but for sure it is not going to be my last visit here.
Regardless of this, the level of our cooperation, the level of our partnership
is – I think - extremely high, extremely important, and I would like to thank
you for this, for the leadership you are showing in leading this organisation
that is crucial for not only Europe, but also, I would say, the entire world. I
thank you very much.
On Syria, we have been working together with, first of
all the United Nations and the UN Special Envoy Staffan de Mistura, to
strengthen the UN framework to facilitate talks to start a political process.
We are particularly satisfied by the fact that for the first time, last week in
Vienna all the regional players that have a direct influence inside Syria and
on the parties involved in the war were present at the talks. We see this as a
first step for starting a political process. We have obviously an open channel
with all of the regional and international players in this respect, including
the Arab League, whose work we value a lot in this respect and we will continue
to work in this framework.
I was in contact with [UN Special Envoy]Staffan de
Mistura even this morning to facilitate and to support his work with all the
relevant actors involved; actively involved because there are different ways of
supporting UN processes. We need now to have the international and the regional
players actively supporting this process. I believe it is possible to start a
political process inside Syria, a Syrian-led one, guaranteeing the integrity
and territorial unity of the country. A secular transition that could allow all
the relevant parties in Syria to be represented in the future government of the
country. I believe, we believe in Europe, that this is going to be the only
possible way to unite the country against the threat of Da'esh and other
terrorist groups as defined by the UN Security Council Presidential Statements
recently.
We are working constantly with Bernandino León, UN
Special Envoy and all the neighbouring countries of Libya, the rest of the
regional and international community to support the beginning of a national
unity government in Libya. This is always one of the first points of my agenda
in my bilateral contacts in the region and in the Arab world very much so. I
think that finally we have the region and the international community united in
asking the different Libyan actors to endorse the agreement that is now on the
table. These are crucial hours and I believe that the entire region and the
entire international community is, in this moment, asking the same thing to the
Libyan people, to the Libyan decision makers which is very similar to what the
Libyan people are asking them, which is to unite forces inside Libya to give to
the country the future and the present that it deserves. Libya is a rich
country, a country full of natural resources, of human resources, with
complicated history. The international community and the regional community is
ready to support institution building, security, all different source of
services delivery to the population especially with the mayors of the municipalities.
The European Union has prepared a package for already some months, a very
consistent one of 100 million euros that are ready from day 1, even from day 0,
after the formation of National Unity Government. This support will obviously
need to be discussed and decided under the Libyan authorities' leadership
because it is very clear that the ownership, the leadership has to be in Libyan
hands. The international community and the European Union in particular is
ready and willing to support but a leading role has to be a Libyan one.
That's why I can speak on behalf of all my European
friends and colleagues when I say: we really hope and we really invite the
Libyan relevant decision makers in these hours to take responsibility and
respond to the need of their people and the call to the international regional
community to take responsibility and unite forces before it is Da'esh taking
more ground in the country and to give the Libyan people the right to live in
peace and to live in a country that can be rebuilt. We are
ready to support them.
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