The European Union will “accompany” the next negotiations in Colombia between the government and the dissidents of the former FARC guerrillas, announced the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, reaffirming the EU’s support for the peace process in this country.
“I am impressed by President Gustavo Petro’s ‘total peace’ project,” Borrell, who has been in Colombia since Tuesday (April 25), told reporters.
“ The EU will support this peace process wherever it can, politically and economically ”, he underlined, judging that “Colombia has a huge job ahead of it”.
President Petro has been trying for several months to negotiate with the many armed groups active in the country’s provinces, often linked to drug trafficking: Guevarist ELN, dissidents from the ex-FARC who reject the peace agreement signed in 2016 with this Marxist guerrilla, groups paramilitaries, but also criminal groups such as the del Golfo clan.
Mr. Borrell announced on this occasion the will of the EU “ to accompany ” more particularly “ the government’s negotiations with the central staff ”, the main dissidence of the FARC, with which discussions are to begin on May 16. next.
EU Will Also Take Part in Two Negotiation Processes
The EU will also take part in two negotiation processes in the cities of Buenaventura (west) and Quibdo (west), on the Pacific coast, where gangs and armed groups are rampant, announced Mr. Borrell.
The “ total peace ” desired by President Petro is a “ titanic task ”. “There are not one or two, but several interlocutors. You have to talk to everyone at the same time. We must also build peace on its socio-economic roots”.
“What worries me is that this process requires political energy, a commitment from Colombian society, and enormous financial means. But I can guarantee you that the EU will be alongside Colombia to build this peace ”, insisted Mr. Borrell.
After visiting several migrant support projects in the popular district of Santa Fe, in Bogota, the head of EU diplomacy also announced 10 million euros in additional aid to support migrants, the vast majority of whom are Venezuelans. , and an additional 10 million euros for the fight against deforestation.
European Union aid to Colombia, between humanitarian aid and cooperation projects, amounts to around 60 million euros per year.
This article is originally published on euractiv.fr
