Summary: January 11, 2005: Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on Sudan - Signing of the comprehensive peace agreement on 9 January 2005 in Nairobi (Brussels)
The European Union warmly welcomes the signing of the comprehensive peace agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). This agreement puts an end to one of the longest and most deadly conflicts on the African continent, which has cost the lives of two million people, and opens the way to a comprehensive political process designed to promote peace and development in all the regions of Sudan.
The European Union commends the parties to the conflict and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and its Mediator, General Lazarus Sumbeiywo, as well as all international observers, for this historic outcome. It congratulates the Kenyan Government for hosting and sustaining the negotiations.
The European Union would issue an appeal to the Sudanese Government and to the SPLM/A rapidly to implement the agreement in full, and reiterates its support for the international efforts to consolidate the agreement in close coordination with the United Nations, the African Union and IGAD.
However, a lasting peaceful solution cannot be achieved without a political solution to the Darfur conflict and other conflicts in Sudan, particularly in the eastern region. The European Union urges the parties to seize this opportunity to work to restore peace throughout Sudanese territory as a whole.
The European Union is deeply dismayed that violence has once again erupted in Darfur and condemns the fact that all parties to the conflict have repeatedly broken the ceasefire.
The resurgence of violence in Darfur can only have a negative impact on the efforts which the international community is prepared to make to assist in the reconstruction of the country, both in the north and in the south. The EU calls on the signatories of the peace agreement and on all those involved in the conflict to strive for an equitable and lasting solution. In this connection, it takes note of Mr. Garang's stated desire to participate in the Abuja talks. The progress of relations
between the EU and Sudan, in particular as regards the various parties to the conflict, will be closely linked to the efforts of all in seeking peace.
The Candidate Countries Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Croatia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
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