BRUSSELS, Kingdom of Belgium, July 14, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The Council today suspended the measures limiting EU cooperation with Guinea-Bissau, following the holding of free and credible elections.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, and the EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs, said: “We are indeed very satisfied with this decision since it enables the EU to support the newly elected authorities on their path towards the reconstruction and stabilisation of the state by helping them rapidly to ensure vital state functions and provide basic social services to the population.”
While today’s decision suspends measures limiting EU cooperation with Guinea-Bissau, the EU expects that the Guinea-Bissauan authorities make every effort to fulfil their commitments to the EU as a matter of priority. These undertakings were made during consultations with the EU in 2011 and concern for instance the reform of the security sector, the renewal of the military hierarchy and the fight against impunity. The measures limiting cooperation with Guinea-Bissau were imposed in July 2011 in the wake of the military mutiny of April 2010 and the subsequent appointment of its main instigators to leading posts in the military hierarchy, which the EU considered as a serious breach of the essential elements of the Cotonou Agreement. In accordance with Article 96 of the Agreement, the EU partially suspended its development cooperation with Guinea-Bissau and a scheme of mutual commitments for the gradual resumption of Union cooperation was established.
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