Minister Samarasinghe meets EU officials
Mahinda Samarasinghe, Minister of Disaster Management and Human
Rights and his delegation met Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Commissioner for
External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy of the European
Commission and several other high level officials of European Commission
and European Council in connection with queries about recent
developments in Sri Lanka.
The delegation included K. J. Weerasinghe, Ambassador and Head of
Mission of Sri Lanka to the European Communities, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka,
Ambassador and Permanent Representative to Sri Lanka in Geneva and Dr.
Rajiva Wijesinha, Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating
the Peace Process (SCOPP).
At a series of meetings held in Brussels, the current situation in
Sri Lanka was discussed with the senior officials of the Human Rights
and Democratisation Unit, Humanitarian Aid Unit (Echo 3), EuropeAid
Co-operation Unit, External Relations Directorate General, all of the
European Commission and of the Human Rights Unit of the European
Parliament.
These meetings were followed by two meetings with James Moran,
Director/Directorate H-Asia (except Japan and Korea), External Relations
Directorate General of the European Commission, after which the
delegation had a informative discussion with Benita Ferrero-Waldner,
Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy of
the European Commission.
Among the issues discussed were progress in the All Party
Representative Committee (APRC), the current status of the peace process
in relations to the LTTE and the recent visits of Louise Arbour, United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and Manfred Novak, Special
Rapporteur in the context of measures taken and proposals for further
strengthening human rights in Sri Lanka.
The delegation was able to clarify the situation regard to various
concerns that were raised. It was agreed that a continuing dialogue was
important to ensure constructive engagements with Sri Lanka by the EU
and officials were invited to seek further clarification on relevant
matters in order to ensure accuracy and balance.
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