The situation in Myanmar/STRONGurma, Syria, Egypt and Libya will be the key issues on the agenda of the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council taking place today, 21 October 2013, in Luxembourg. Nobel Prize-winnerAung San Suu Kyi will be attending the Council, at which Foreign Minister Emma Bonino will express Italy’s political support for the implementation of the EU-Myanmar/STRONGurma Action Plan approved in July 2013.
Minister Bonino will also announce to her European colleagues that the Burmese Foreign Minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, will be visiting Rome on Wednesday 23 October for bilateral talks. In Rome, Ministers Bonino and Lwin will chair a seminar focusing on investment opportunities for Italian companies in Myanmar. Italy has believed and invested in the more open political and economic approach taken by Myanmar and the country’s democratic transition.
The crises in Syria, Egypt and Libya
The EU Foreign Ministers will also discuss the crises in Syria, Egyptand Libya, the last-named included at Italy and Malta’s request in view of the effects of the crisis on migration flows. Minister Bonino will focus on the outlook for the Geneva 2 negotiations and the process of eliminating Syria’s chemical weapons with the support of the EU and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Discussions will also include the delicate situation in Libya following the kidnapping of Prime Minister Zeidan, against the background of the continuing political stalemate. The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, will up-date participants on Egypt. Also on the agenda are the preparations for the Eastern Partnership Summit inVilnius.
