11044/1/05 REV1 (Presse 185)
P 071/05
The EU warmly welcomes the inauguration today (9 July) of the Presidency of the new Government of National Unity in Sudan. This is a vital and historic step in implementing the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed on 9 January 2005, which brought to an end more than twenty years of brutal civil war.
The EU reiterates its determination to support the Sudanese in implementing this agreement, which paves the way for a more transparent, pluralist and democratic system of government. The EU calls on the new Sudanese Presidency to establish quickly the full Government of National Unity, and to ensure that implementation of the Agreement is a fully inclusive process. To this end we also welcome the signature of the agreement between the parties and the Northern Democratic Alliance on 18 June.
There can be no comprehensive peace in Sudan without an end to the conflict in Darfur. The EU expresses its hope that the new Presidency will take urgent steps to resolve the crisis there through peaceful means. The new Presidency must also continue to act with restraint in the East of the country.
The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey and Croatia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.