The European Union (EU) welcomes the agreement reached in Khartoum, Sudan, on 22 June 2006 establishing a basis for negotiations between the Somali Transitional Federal Institutions and the Union of Islamic Courts, and congratulates both League of Arab States and the Sudanese government for facilitating the talks.
The EU urges the Transition Federal Institutions and the Union of Islamic Courts to sincerely and urgently implement this agreement by engaging in meaningful dialogue in pursuit of a political solution, so that peace and stability can return to Somalia, in the interest of the Somali civilian population.
The EU calls on all regional and international partners to create and maintain the conditions necessary for the dialogue and to continue to support the dialogue within the framework of the Transitional Federal Charter.
The EU reaffirms its readiness to provide political and material support to this process as necessary and appropriate.
The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.