EU’s Ashton Statement On Libya Resolution

By Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission

Remarks by High Representative at the VIP corner on latest developments regarding Libya

As we all know, Resolution 1973 means that the conditions that were set out last week by the European Council are now fulfilled.

We have see reports that the Libyan regime has announced a ceasefire, and along with our colleagues we’re looking at the details of that.

During the last week, I have been to Cairo, to Paris and to London, and of course have maintained close and regular contacts with all our international partners, including the Arab League, who I visited in Cairo to give them the details of the European Council discussions and African Union – I have been talking with Jean Ping.

Tonight, I will travel to Paris where I will meet tomorrow, I hope, with Ban Ki-moon, certainly with Amr Moussa of the Arab League, and Jean Ping of the African Union.

What is key for the European Union is that we look at what we can do to strengthen economic sanctions and to intensify our humanitarian support for the people of Libya.

I was extremely pleased that the resolution made explicit mention of sanctions against the Libyan oil assets.

The PSC committee is meeting right now to discuss options for how best we can support humanitarian efforts on the ground.

On Monday, the Foreign Affairs Council will meet and decide upon a concerted set of measures at European Union level. And of course, all of these actions fall into the overall framework of our long-term support for the entire region as it continues its transition to freedom and democracy.