Luxembourg's Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn, was in Brussels on Monday 15 February 2016 to participate in the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) of the European Union.
The FAC presented the opportunity for ministers to first and foremost discuss the regional situation in the Middle East. The ministers reported on the recent diplomatic negotiations underway regarding Syria, in light of the Munich Security Conference which took place from 12 to 14 February 2016, as well as the reality of the situation on the ground. High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, expressed her awareness of the challenges which lay ahead in this regard.
"We are clearly facing setbacks," Mogherini stated following the meeting. "We will probably continue to face some setbacks. This is not a reason to change policy just four days after we took common decisions. There was a complete unity in the Council on this: on the need to stick to the commitment made in Munich, to expect from all parties that were present in Munich to stick to their own commitments and also to work for others on the ground, to work on the cessation of hostilities, humanitarian access and the beginning of a political process leading to a transition in Damascus."
The ministers also discussed the latest political developments in Libya, due to the deteriorating security situation.
A working lunch was devoted to an exchange of views with the Foreign Minister of Lebanon, Gebran Bassil, whereby the ministers welcomed the efforts of the Lebanese authorities and populations in welcoming, assisting and protecting refugees fleeing the Syrian conflict and reaffirmed the support of the EU, which acts as the main donor to Lebanon.
"We had very intense and productive talks, and as you know, our support to Lebanon is substantial not only from a financial point of view but also from a political point of view," Federica Mogherini commented.
In the presence of the Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action, Miguel Arias Cañete, the Council also held an exchange of views on climate diplomacy, following the global agreement on climate change reached in Paris in 2015 COP21, which the High Representative cited as "a huge result of a coordinated effort of the European diplomacy, all together".
In addition, the ministers took stock of the political and economic situation in Moldova.
Finally, regarding the situation in Belarus and in a bid to resume dialogue with the country's authorities on the implementation of state sector reform of law and democracy to which it has committed, the Council took the decision not to extend the restrictive measures, suspended against 170 individuals and three entitites since October 2015. Meanwhile, the arms embargo and restrictive measures against four individuals listed in connection with the unsolved disappearance of two opposition politicians will be extended for twelve months.
Federica Mogherini continued: "Ministers agreed on the fact that, we see a situation in the country that is showing a positive trend, trend that we need and we want to encourage, in the last months; resumption of the EU-Belarus human rights dialogue, the negotiations on visa facilitations and readmissions agreement and on Mobility Partnership. This is clearly not a rosy or a perfect picture, far from that, that was the general assessment of all the Ministers, but we agreed on a critical engagement."
Photo by MAEE (L-R: UK Minister of Foreign Affairs, Philip Hammond; German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier; Luxembourg Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, Jean Asselborn)
