EU cooperation with Turkey and Russia, relations between EU and Latin America and Caribbean discussed in Brussels
On 13 July in Brussels, the Foreign Affairs Council discussed relations between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean, in particular how the EU could support the region, the EU-Turkey relations and current affairs, including situations in Libya, Hong Kong, Venezuela, and the Middle East peace process.
Ministers also had an informal debate on the EU's relations with Russia. According to the Permanent Representative of Lithuania to the European Union Jovita Neliupšienė, there are no preconditions for changing the EU’s policy towards Russia as long as Russia continues its aggressive policy in the Eastern Neighborhood and other regions, including Syria, Libya, and the Western Balkans. Russia also engages in a systematic restriction of civil society space, as well as current reprisals against human rights defenders and attacks on journalists.
"The EU-Russia relations must continue to be based on the underlying five guiding principles that were outlined in 2016. In addition, sanctions against Russia should remain in place until all of the conditions for lifting them have been met," said the Ambassador J. Neliupšienė.
Ministers also discussed dynamics in the EU-Turkey relations, including migration and security policy in the Mediterranean. Lithuania expressed its solidarity with the Republic of Cyprus and Greece as the sovereign rights of these member states were being violated because of Turkey's continued illegal drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean. J. Neliupšienė called on Turkey to respect international law and to refrain from any unilateral action that could have a destabilizing effect on the region. Also in the light of the EU-Turkey relationship in many domains, cooperation within NATO and the country's great geopolitical importance to states in the region, the Lithuanian representative spoke in favor of developing dialogue with Turkey and cooperation in the fields of security, migration matters, energy and trade.