Date : 23/03/2012
BRUSSELS, March 23 (KUNA) -- European Union High Representative Catherine
Ashton Friday stressed on the growing cooperation between the 27-member EU and
the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and called for strengthening of
ties between the two blocs.
"We work very closely with the Gulf Cooperation Council and recently the
(GCC) Secretary General was here. We had a very good debate. We have a strong
bilateral relations and we are trying to improve that," she told journalists
as she arrived for a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
"We talk with them on a number of subjects. Yemen is very high on our
agenda because the way in which they were able to deliver the transition and
worked closely with our representation on the ground and we continue to work
with them on all these international issues," Ashton added.
She said the EU Foreign Affairs Council will today significantly tighten
sanction on Syria with the addition of 12 more names of Syrian official to the
EU blacklist.
Ashton said she spoke yesterday with UN/Arab League Special envoy Kofi
Annan to express support for his work to stop the violence in Syria.
"I am worried about the escalating spiral of violence in Syria. We are
talking to opposition groups outside and inside Syria," said Ashton and urged
Syrian President Bashar al-Asad to step down.
Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglou is also meeting with the EU
foreign ministers today to discuss Syria . Ashton said she met Davutoglou in
Brussels last night and had a long discussion with him over the situation in
Syria.
Ashton condemned the military coup in Mali and said "we do hope that the
constitution would be restored very quickly."
EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Syria, the Sahel region
and Belarus in their regular, monthly meeting today. (end)
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