A+ A-

Hollande proposes conf. on Iraq

BRUSSELS, Aug 30 (KUNA) -- French President Francois Hollande Saturday expressed concern over the situation in Iraq and said he has proposed an international conference to address problems in this country.
Speaking to reporters ahead of an EU summit in Brussels, he said Iraq is not on the agenda today, "but we are concerned and I've proposed a Conference on Iraq and the fight against the Islamic State." "This idea has been supported by the President of Iraq and other countries, so we are working on that," he said.
On Ukraine, he said what is happening there is serious, "so the European Council should increase the sanctions if the situation does not change with the weapons from Russia or the military forces beyond the borders. So we could ask to the European Commission to prepare new sanctions." He added that the EU leaders today will decide the appointment of the EU High Representative and this morning at the meeting of Socialist and Democrats group "we have decided to support Italian foreign minister Mogherini and I think that she will be the next High Representative." "For the appointment for the European Council presidency, we'll look for consensus," he added. On her part, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said "we will talk about top jobs today; we will reach a decision today- at least I hope so." "On Ukraine: we will meet with Ukrainian president Poroshenko today to discuss a very serious situation," she added. (end) nk.ajs