Meeting between President Santos and HR/VP Federica Mogherini: EU confirms commitment to support Colombia Peace Process

The European Union will continue and is ready to step up the support for the current peace process in Colombia. High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini confirmed this today when she met Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, her first bilateral meeting in Brussels since the start of her mandate. High Representative Mogherini and President Santos had met previously in August in Bogota at his inauguration.

"The EU", said the High Representative, "will ensure its political engagement in a process that aims to put an end to this 50-year internal conflict, which has caused countless deaths, provoked untold suffering and displaced millions of people. The support that the EU can give has a high political value because it can show that a peace process can have success even in a difficult context, and could be a sign of hope for other crises all over the world."

The EU has been lending strong political support to the Havana process with FARC, the country's main remaining guerrilla group, encouraging both parties to make the necessary compromises so that a unique opportunity to end the conflict is not missed. The EU has underlined its readiness to contribute financially to the implementation of an agreement with the FARC. This assistance will depend on Colombia's request for such assistance and will need to be further defined. The EU will seek to promote a coordinated approach, together with its Member States, to post-conflict assistance for Colombia.

The EU's cooperation with Colombia has long supported projects aimed at building peace at a local level, dealing with the conflict's victims and promoting human rights.

Colombia is one of the EU's most important and trusted partners in Latin America. Relations have been developing steadily over the past few years. Recent milestones include the conclusion of a trade agreement, which has been in provisional application since 1 August 2013, and of a Framework Participation Agreement last August to facilitate Colombia's participation in EU crisis management operations, ensuring that it contributes to world peace and stability.

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