EU commends Solheim, welcomes LTTE, GoSL agreement

[TamilNet, Friday, 27 January 2006, 15:39 GMT]
The European Union welcomed the agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the LTTE to have talks in Geneva, and praised Norway's Minister of International Development, Erik Solheim, for his "longstanding and untiring efforts" for peace in Sri Lanka, in press release issued Friday. The office of Julian Wilson, Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Sri Lanka and the Maldives in Colombo, issued the release.

Full text of the press release follows:

The European Union welcomes the agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE to hold talks in Switzerland with a view to reinforcing the Ceasefire Agreement concluded in February 2002 and to improving its implementation.

The EU commends Minister Eric Solheim for his longstanding and untiring efforts for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Sri Lanka. The EU reiterates its full support for Norway’s role as facilitator in the peace process.

The EU expresses its firm hope that the talks will help stabilize the situation in Sri Lanka and lead to a peaceful solution of the conflict.