EU, Japan call for genuine political transition in Syria

BRUSSELS, May 7 (KUNA) -- The European Union and Japan Wednesday agreed to boost their security cooperation to promote global peace, called for resumption of Geneva talks on Syria and underlined their support for a comprehensive settlement of Iran's nuclear issue.
"The EU welcomes Japan's readiness to build up an enhanced security partnership with the EU as part of Japan's overall policy to contribute more actively to global peace and security," President of the European Council, Herman van Rompuy, told a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after the 22nd EU-Japan summit in Brussels.
"We will jointly support our African partners to improve their security and law enforcement capacity against the threats of terrorism and organised crime. We also agreed to carry out a joint counter piracy exercise between Japanese naval assets and EUNAVFOR Atalanta in the Western Indian Ocean," he noted.
"The EU and Japan have a shared interest to promote regional stability and security - in the EU's Eastern Neighbourhood, in East Asia, in the wider Middle East and in Africa," said Van Rompuy.
He said that a little over a year ago the EU and Japan took the major step of launching negotiations on two important agreements, a Strategic Partnership Agreement and a Free Trade Agreement.
"We agreed with the Prime Minister that together these agreements form a crucial foundation for taking our strategic partnership forward over the next decade," he stressed.
On Ukraine, he said both sides reiterated their support for the Ukrainian people and their right to choose their own future, as well as their rejection of Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol.
"We call on Russia to refrain from any steps to further destabilise Ukraine and instead to engage in a diplomatic resolution of the crisis," said Van Rompuy.
On his part, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe speaking at the joint press conference called for effective EU-Japan response to global challenges and to strengthen cooperation in the sectors of economy, security and women empowerment.
On Ukraine, he called for a dialogue with Russia to resolve the crisis and stabilise the situation in the country.
In a joint press statement released after the summit, EU and Japan expressed grave concern over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Syria and the spill-over of violence and over the participation of the "alarming large numbers of foreign fighters in the conflict." "We call for resumption of the next rounds of Geneva 2 talks which must lead to a serious engagement by the two sides to embark of planning for genuine political transition, including the implementation of free and fair elections within the framework of the Geneva Communique," said the statement.
On Iran, the EU leaders expressed their appreciation of Japan's support to the P5+1 action and its constructive engagement with Iran in this respect.
"Efforts must now focus on producing a comprehensive and final settlement which ensures the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activites," it said.
EU and Japan welcomed the "major progress in the democratic transition of Tunsia" and voiced their support to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to reach a final agreement to establish an independent Palestinian state.
The two sides agreed to intensify their assistance to help Libya achieve its stabilization, democratic transition and reconciliation.
EU and Japan welcomed the holding of Presidential elections in Afghanistan and called upon all stakeholders to pursue their efforts to ensure the security of the ballot as well as legitimate outcome.
EU and Japan stressed the importance of the proposed conference on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction.
They also agreed to cooperate to counter the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, especially in Libya and the Sahel region.
The two sides expressed grave concern about further development of North Korea's nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programmes, as well as its appalling human rights situation. (end) nk.mt