EU en wereldleiders hebben nauw samengewerkt op Algemene Vergadering VN (en)
© EU
EU and world leaders together with key figures from international organisations participated last week in the annual UN General Assembly.
In New York alongside High Representative Catherine Ashton i, the European Union was represented by President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy i and European Commission President José Manual Barroso, together with Commissioners Janez Potočnik i (Environment), Andris Piebalgs i (Development), Kristalina Georgieva i (International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response), Connie Hedegaard i (Climate Action), and Štefan Füle (Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy).
After a week of diplomatic contacts, High Representative Ashton announced that the next round of talks on the Iranian nuclear programme would take place on 15 and 16 October in Geneva.
This followed a ministerial meeting, organised and chaired by the High Representative, between the foreign ministers of the E3+3 (France, Germany, the UK, China, Russia and the US) and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The High Representative described the meeting as "substantial with a good atmosphere, energetic" and "a discussion about how we would go forward with an ambitious timeframe, to see whether we can make progress quickly". Earlier in the week, the High Representative together with President Van Rompuy also met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
The ongoing crisis in Syria was also high on the agenda of those attending the UNGA. In her diplomatic efforts to reach a negotiated solution to the crisis in Syria, and calling for progress on the diplomatic process along the lines of the proposed Geneva II conference, the High Representative met with many interlocutors in the margins of UNGA. Upon her arrival on Sunday 22 September, she met UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon i and US Secretary of State John Kerry. She also had bilaterals with Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby, UN/LAS envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi, and Ahmad Jarba, President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition to discuss the latest diplomatic efforts. In her meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the High Representative "called on Russia to build on the positive momentum created by the agreement on chemical weapons to support international efforts for a negotiated settlement to the crisis in Syria". The crisis in Syria was also among the issues discussed at the meeting of EU28 foreign ministers chaired by the High Representative.
Preparations for the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius were discussed when Catherine Ashton and Commissioner Štefan Füle together with the Lithuanian FM Linkevičius met in New York with foreign ministers from the six Eastern Partnership countries. They reassured their partners about the inclusivity of the EaP, taking into account their commitment to shared values and necessary reforms. A concrete expression of this should be the November summit with the possible signature of the EU Association Agreement with Ukraine and initialling Association Agreements with Georgia and Republic of Moldova. The High Representative also discussed relations with Eastern Partners with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov and expressed concern about recent trade and customs measures taken by the Russian Federation towards certain Eastern Partnership countries, stressing each country's right freely to define and conduct its relations with other States in accordance with international law.
The High Representative finished the week by participating in the meeting of the Middle East Quartet, which agreed a statement supporting the peace negotiations which recently restarted between the Israelis and Palestinians.