Luxembourg, 18/10/2021
Check against delivery!
Good afternoon,
It has been a long day, a long meeting, a lot of discussions. Because we had several points on the current affairs.
First, we discussed about [the] Gulf. I just came back from the Gulf, we have been there a couple of weeks ago. It was clear for me, and it has been also clear for the colleagues during the discussions that the European Union is quite absent from the region. I got this message during my visit. The Gulf wants an increased European Union presence and we have a strategic interest to engage with them. They play a key role on foreign policy issues. For example, if you want to engage with Afghanistan, you better go to Qatar.
Secondly, we need to actively support and accompany the positive momentum in the region, in areas that can build confidence and contribute to the global agenda, not only green transition and climate, but also, trade. Qatar is the country with the highest revenue per head in the world. And there are socio-economic reforms, issues in which we can disagree – like we did recently during the Human Rights Dialogue with Saudi Arabia, which is the first time ever that takes place-. In order to strengthen our relations, we will be holding an EU-Gulf Cooperation Council [Joint Council] in early next year and expanding our network of Delegations, we will open a Delegation in Qatar next year. We will also be working on a Joint Communication with the Gulf, which I plan to present to the Commission next spring.
Talking about the Gulf, we also talked about Iran. We are in a critical point in time for the JCPOA [nuclear deal with Iran]. In New York, during the United Nations General Assembly, I had a meeting with the new [Iranian] Foreign Minister [Hossein] Amir-Abdollahian and the [European] External Action Service saw last week the new negotiating team in Tehran. My team went to Tehran and had a meeting with the new negotiating team.
Everybody is determined to bring the JCPOA back on track. So we are working hard to go back to Vienna. I heard that someone was convinced that next Thursday there is going to be a meeting. No, next Thursday there is not going to be a meeting as far as I know and, certainly, I should know. But we made it clear to the Iranians that time is not on their side and it is better to go back to the negotiating table quickly.
On the Eastern partnership, we have to prepare the new ministerial meeting next month and the Summit in December. I don’t have to repeat the difficult geopolitical context: the situation in Ukraine, the protracted conflicts, the ongoing energy crisis in Moldova and the continuous repression in Belarus, which suspended its participation in the Eastern Partnership. We agreed today to work on they called the “fundamentals”. And the fundamentals are: democracy, human rights, rule of law, anti-corruption. These are the cornerstone: democracy, human rights, rule of law, anti-corruption.
Second, long–term socio-economic recovery. And third support partners with vaccines, vaccine certificates and the fight against disinformation.
The third issue was Ethiopia. We are marking a sad anniversary, the “first anniversary” of the conflict in Tigray. Since then, Tigray has been shattered by systematic violations of human rights by armed groups that use war crimes and crimes against humanity as a weapon. Humanitarian aid has been prevented to arrive, and we will prepare the ground in view of the upcoming United Nations report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Human Rights expected on 1 November, to give an adequate response, that can start by preparing sanctions. I am tasking my services to take this forward once we have the Human Rights Abuses Report. At the same time, we need to examine how to continue development assistance to Ethiopia. Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, will travel together with my Special Representative for the Horn of Africa to Ethiopia [Annette Weber], to send a clear message on behalf of the European Union, on the need to implement a ceasefire and the start of a political process, engaging all actors into a constructive political process. And certainly the African Union Special Envoy former President [of Nigeria, Olusegun] Obasanjo will have our full support.
In Nicaragua the repression and the authoritarian drift is more than worrying, it is unacceptable. Since 2018, the violent suppression has left at least 328 people dead, killed in the streets.
President [Daniel] Ortega and his wife Vice-President [Rosamaria] Murillo have eliminated the political opposition ensuring their victory at the polls on 7 November by jailing the opposition. This is one of the worst dictatorships in the world.
The European Union will continue to insist on democracy, human rights and the rule of law. The release of political prisoners, the return of international human rights organisations and the holding of free and fair elections. The ones that will take place soon are fake elections organised by a dictatorship.
On Afghanistan, we discussed the deteriorating humanitarian and economic situation. We should have a minimal presence in Kabul to support the Afghan people and ensure safe passage for Afghans at risk. This does not mean recognition. The announcement of the President of the [European] Commission, [Ursula von der Leyen] to provide 1 billion euro to support Afghan people and the countries of the neighbourhood puts the question of how to deliver this help without supporting the Afghanistan and without channelling these resources through the Afghan government, because the Afghanistan government is formed by several ministers who are in the list of the terrorists identified by the United Nations.
We also addressed Tunisia. On Friday, I spoke again to President [Kais] Saied, from Washington, from the United States, before coming back to Europe, to pass a clear message about the importance of preserving the democratic acquis, respecting separation of power and resuming institutional normalicy. Yes, there is a new Head of Government [Najla Bouden Romdhane] and a new set of Ministers, but with different powers that the ones that the Constitution grants them. We need a clear schedule, in order to go back to the normal Constitutional provisions and we will follow closely the impact of the decisions, based on concrete facts.
On the Western Balkans, you know that we had a Summit last week. During these days have had very difficult situation in the border between Kosovo and Serbia. I have been talking twice to with President Vučić and Prime Minister Kurti. And recent events and the agreement of 30 September show that our EU-facilitated Dialogue is the only way forward. And I have been calling on the two of them to go back to a situation in which the dialogue can resume.
We talked a lot about climate diplomacy and the increase of the energy prices which we consider to be a geopolitical issue. We are in view of the upcoming COP26. The EU diplomatic channels are in full swing, from the bilateral level to the G-20 Summit.
It is imperative that those countries that not have yet submitted their Mitigation plans and Long-Term Zero-Emission Strategies do so without delay.
We have provided, we European Union, we have provided overall the biggest share. A whole of us we will to the apart. The ministers considered clearly that the fight against climate change is a foreign policy issue and the increase in the price of energy has deep geopolitical roots. It’s part of the geopolitical battle. There are also regulatory problems that need to be solved internally. That is not the matter for the external affairs ministers. But certainly the price of gas, the scarcity is something that has to be looked from a geopolitical perspective and we will devote to it in the next Foreign Affairs Council.
On Varosha, we referred to the unacceptable interventions by Turkey against European vessels operating in the Exclusive Economic Zones of our Member States. And the members have expressed a strong solidarity with Greece and Cyprus.
From my part, I can only insist on the idea that only a durable solution to the issues before us is a Cyprus settlement in line with relevant UN Security Council Resolutions and the principles on which the European Union is founded.
We paid also an important attention to the Sahel and in particular to Mali. We looked at our financial and political leverages, including the possibility to consider restrictive measures, in support of the efforts by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and in line with the Conclusions of the European Council in May, against those hampering the transition agenda. This preparatory work will continue in the Council Working Groups and we will revert to the issues at our meeting in November. We clearly stated that the presence in Mali of the Wagner company will be a red line for our continuous support to the region.
C’est la dernière question mais non la moins importante. Nous avons eu une longue discussion à propos de la situation des migrants acheminés par la Bielorussie vers les pays européens frontaliers.
Nous avons déployé des intenses contacts diplomatiques en alertant les pays d’origine de transit. J’ai fait ça, par exemple, pendant mon voyage en Iraq et je remercie la réaction positive des autorités iraquiennes. Mais l’Iraq n’est pas le seul pays d’origine de ce flux.
Nous sommes en contact avec beaucoup d’autres pays pour essayer d’éviter que ces gens-là soient acheminés à Minsk et puis amenés à la frontière en croyant qu’il y a un libre passage vers l’Europe et qu’ils se trouvent déjà dans des situations de détresse très difficile qu’il faut à tout prix éviter.
L’instrumentalisation des migrants pour des objectifs politiques n’est pas acceptable et nous allons considérer des réponses appropriés. En attendant, nous travaillons avec les pays d’origine pour leur faire comprendre qu’il ne s’agit pas de touristes qui ont tout d’un coup envie de visiter Mins, mais des gens à qui on a fait croire qu’il y a une voie libre pour accéder à l’Europe par la Lituanie, la Lettonie et la Pologne, et qui se trouvent coincés à la frontière entre la Biélorussie et ces pays. Ce sont des situations qu’il faut dénoncer et qu’il faut combattre.
Et je pense que je vous ai résumé le plus important de notre Conseil d’aujourdh’ui. Comme vous voyez, il y a eu beaucoup de sujets et certainement un degré d’accord très important.