Opportunity to make Sri Lanka-EU relations more stable
Sri Lankan Ambassador to the EU Ravinatha Aryasinha has said the
conclusion of the Presidential Election and the re-election of President
Mahinda Rajapaksa, enables the EU to re-calibrate its strategy, and find
the best way possible to get together and work with Sri Lanka over the
coming years, in making Sri Lanka - EU relations more stable.
Ravinatha Aryasinha |
He said it has a real opportunity to do so, through the manner in
which it chooses to handle the GSP+ issue.
Ambassador Aryasinha made this observation on Wednesday at the
European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with the Countries of
South Asia, during a discussion on the Sri Lankan Presidential
Elections.
He also said: “At a time when the EU has shown a considerable
understanding and willingness to accommodate the practical difficulties
faced by some current GSP+ recipient countries at variance from the norm
with respect to the 27 UN conventions, and are willing to review the
rules of the scheme to accommodate others, it is hard to understand why
the same rubric is not being applied in the case of Sri Lanka”.
“Sri Lanka remains hopeful that better sense will prevail upon member
countries of the EU, who themselves have faced similar situations in
their long history and are acutely conscious of the complexity of
‘democracies fighting terrorism’ - a phenomenon Sri Lanka, thankfully,
has been able to overcome”.
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