Tag: Catherine Ashton

Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić said he would ask EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton today (22 April) to set a day for his country to open EU accession negotiations. The moves follows an agreement to improve relations with Kosovo, BETA, the EurActiv partner in Serbia, reports.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić said that the government would take a stand today (8 April) on the failed Kosovo talks, and that the majority of parties with representatives in Parliament were expected to support it. BETA, the EurActiv partner agency in Serbia reports.

Crunch talks aimed at ending the ethnic partition of Serbia's former Kosovo province broke up without result early this morning (3 April), in a major setback for Serbia's hopes of starting EU membership negotiations this year.

If the real added value of the EU as a global actor is in developing holistic approaches to international affairs which benefit from a very broad range of tools, the people involved need to be able to work together well, write Rosa Balfour and Kristi Rak.

France urged the European Union to look again at lifting an arms embargo on Syria to help rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad, putting it at odds with Germany which said such a step could spread conflict in the region.

France, Germany and Belgium have expressed concern about the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, while in Brussels the EU's foreign chief and European Parliament president called on both partiess to stop hostilities and avoid further casualties.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is due to meet Iran's chief nuclear negotiator today (18 September), Ashton's office said. Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a political solution was still possible in the standoff over Tehran's atomic programme.

The United States and at least seven other Western countries expelled Syrian diplomats from their capitals yesterday (29 May) in a coordinated action against President Bashar al-Assad's government over the killing of more than 100 civilians in a Syrian town. An EU-wide expulsion, however, has not been decided.

With the right manoeuvres, the EU and the US could create a new base of negotiations with the Iranian government where the implementation of its nuclear programme would not be out of question but would create mutual benefits, argues Francisco Galamas and Jelena Petrovic.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton wrote to Iran's chief nuclear negotiator yesterday (6 March), accepting an offer to meet to discuss Tehran's nuclear program.

As the Syrian bloodshed continues, the European Union finds itself once again trapped behind mild rhetoric and condemnation, writes Vivien Pertusot from the French institute of international relations (Ifri).

Hillary Clinton's recent visit to West Africa highlights that despite the EU's higher spending on development aid, it is unable to sell itself as a champion of human rights or make its voice heard internationally, say Christina Barrios and Paul Nolan of the Madrid-based FRIDE think tank.

The European Union hopes to persuade Palestinian leaders to drop plans for full United Nations membership this month in return for a nuanced upgrading of their UN observer status, EU diplomats said yesterday (15 September).

As rebels seize Muammar Gaddafi's compound and the regime enters its final days, the EU and NATO have taken the first steps to assist a transitional government in Libya and release frozen cash.

Europe should do much more on foreign policy, especially by unambiguously supporting the Arab revolutions, otherwise it risks wasting an historic opportunity which could later count against it, said former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema in an exclusive interview with EurActiv.

The European Commission carefully welcomed news yesterday (16 May) that the International Criminal Court had sought arrest warrants for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, his son Saif Al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah Senussi.

Catherine Ashton, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will at last have the right to speak at the United Nations General Assembly, following a vote held yesterday (3 May).

The Palestinian envoy to Brussels, Leila Shahid, has called on the EU to support the new 'technocratic' Palestinian Authority (PA), agreed between Fatah and Hamas as a step towards unity and reconciliation.

Georgia wants the European Union to help it solve its conflict with Moscow over the "occupied territories" of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the country's vice-prime minister, Giorgi Baramidze, told EurActiv in an exclusive interview.