EU NEIGHBOURS. On Monday 14 October, EU foreign affairs ministers, gathered in Luxembourg for a Foreign Affairs Council, have condemned Turkey’s military action in north east Syria. “We have a common united European Union position … on the developments in the north-east of Syria … there is a clear condemnation from the European Union’s side of Turkey’s military action”, said High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini at the press conference following the Council.
High Representative Mogherini also highlighted Member States’ “clear and strong” national positions regarding their arms exports policy to Turkey. “We have a common position on arms exports control and they all committed to apply that framework to their exports of arms to Turkey.”
The Council conclusions reaffirmed the EU’s commitment in addressing the serious humanitarian and refugee crisis in light of the evolving needs. Mogherini debriefed the Ministers on the call she had with UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock, who was recently in Gaziantep, and to whom she confirmed the EU’s determination to support in particular the countries in the region that are facing important consequences from the humanitarian and refugee crisis.
