The leaders of the European Union and the United States, at the Wednesday summit in Brussels, reaffirmed partnership in most global issues, from foreign and security to economic policy.
The two sides condemned the Russian annexation of Crimea, reaffirmed commitment to conclude Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), vowed cooperation in fight against terrorism, but also backed Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.
“The EU and the US support the Ukrainian people and their right to choose their own future and remain committed to uphold the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine,” a statement released after the summit said.
“We strongly condemn the illegal annexation of Crimea to Russia and will not recognise it. We urge Russia to engage in a meaningful dialogue with Ukraine with a view to finding a political solution. Further steps by Russia to destabilise the situation in Ukraine would lead to additional and far reaching consequences for the EU’s and US’ relations with Russia in a broad range of economic areas,” the statement said.
The President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso said after the meeting that “the European Union and the United States are working together to make sure that actions that are unacceptable will bear serious consequences.”
“And in fact we can say that it is in this spirit that we have not only been working on issues like Iran or the Middle East peace process, but most recently on the crisis of Ukraine. We have discussed this again today, we are determined not only to safeguard and to support the independence, the prosperity of that country, but also to show that some kind of unacceptable behaviour cannot continue,” Barroso told a press conference.
Barosso, the EU’s President of European Council Herman Van Rompuy and the US’ President Barack Obama said they “have made considerable progress on a wide range of transnational security issues.”
“We cooperate against terrorism in accordance with respect for human rights. We will strengthen our coordination efforts to prevent and counter violent extremism,” the statement said.
The EU and the United States said they have also “significantly strengthened and intensified their cooperation on foreign and security policy.”
In this regard, the two sides backed the EU facilitated Belgrade-Pristina dialogue leading to progress in the normalisation of relations, notably thanks to the April 2013 agreement.
The EU and US also “share our deep concern at the current political and economic stalemate in Bosnia and Herzegovina and stand ready to assist the country in bringing it closer to European and Euro-Atlantic structures.”
The EU and US leaders reaffirmed their commitment to conclude “expeditiously a comprehensive and ambitious Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).”
“A high-standard TTIP agreement will make us more competitive globally, and boost economic and jobs growth, including for small and medium-sized enterprises,” the statement said.
More information:
http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-14-251_en.htm
