“High Representative Ashton’s mission to Asia was a great diplomatic success for the European Union, with which we are delighted and fully identify”.
This was Minister Giulio Terzi’s comment on the Declaration of Cooperation between Europe and the United States that Catherine Ashton signed with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the end of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Phnom Penh,.
“It is cause for particular satisfaction”, Terzi continued, “that the Declaration fully endorses the principles of respect for international law in counter-piracy efforts and the defence of religious minorities, veritable pillars of the international efforts that Italy has reiterated and promoted in all forums”.
“Europe’s increased attention to Asia, within the framework of a close coordination to be maintained with the United States, also corresponds”, Terzi concluded, “with an approach that Italy has pursued with determination”. In recent months, Terzi has been accompanied by business delegations on a series of missions to India, Vietnam, Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia and Brunei, and hosted the ASEAN Awareness Forum, which united the ministers of the 10 members of that organization in Rome”.
