Foreign Minister Michael Frendo has attended the General Affairs and External Relations Council in Luxembourg, which considered a number of international issues, including EU-US relations and Zimbabwe.

The EU-US relations were discussed in preparation for the US-EU summit to be held in Washington on 30 April. In his address, Minister Frendo referred to the importance of strengthening relations between the EU and the US and the opportunity provided by the summit to achieve this goal.

Dr Frendo drew attention to the importance of extending visa-free travel to all EU citizens travelling to the US and said that a commitment to this objective should be clearly expressed in the outcome of the summit.

Referring to the Middle East as a very important area of

cooperation with the US, he stressed the need to reconfirm the message of encouragement, in view of recent positive developments.

The council also discussed the situation in Zimbabwe in the light of the most recent developments. In his address, recalling his recent meeting in Malta with South African Foreign Minister Dlamini-Zuma, Dr Frendo lent his support to Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner in favour of a balanced approach between showing the appropriate level of interest in the political initiative of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and allowing space for South Africa to carry out its SADC mandate to seek reconciliation of the political forces and a way forward in Zimbabwe.

He said that the Council’s conclusions on Zimbabwe sent the right message and reflected this balanced approach.