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EU ready to help Colombia peace efforts

05 November 2014, 12:57 CET
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(BRUSSELS) - The European Union said Tuesday it is ready to provide "concrete assistance" to Colombia to help implement any peace accord it can reach with FARC rebels after 50 years of bloody conflict.

Talks between the centre-right government of President Jose Manuel Santos and the Marxist-inspired FARC have so far produced three tentative accords out of five outlined in an overall peace deal.

These include cooperation on ending the drug trade -- a major source of finance -- agricultural reforms and FARC's future as a conventional political group in the country.

"I want to stress that the EU will continue to lend its support to the negotiations," European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said after meeting Santos in Brussels.

"We also stand ready to provide concrete assistance to Colombia in the implementation of the peace agreement once negotiations are concluded," he said.

Van Rompuy gave no specific details of the possible aid but highlighted the need to help "the numerous victims" of the conflict and promote social reconciliation.

Colombia's internal conflict has left 220,000 dead and displaced 5.3 million people over the past 50 years, according to official figures.

EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini echoed Van Rompuy's remarks, noting the bloc "has underlined its readiness to contribute financially to the implementation of an agreement."

Van Rompuy said the EU would stand by the talks, held in Havana over the past two years.

For his part, Santos said EU support for the peace process was hugely important, with the talks at a "crucial stage".

He told the European Parliament later his government "was making a super-human effort" to help victims of one of Latin America's longest insurgencies.

- FARC recognises impact on civilians -

In an important sign of progress, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) last week acknowledged for the first time that its actions had affected civilians.

FARC said it had never targeted civilians but admitted they had been harmed through the excessive use of force or mistakes.

"We explicitly recognise that our actions have affected civilians at different times and circumstances during the war," FARC said.

"It seems to me to be an important step and gesture. When the sides begin to assume responsibility that means that the talks are serious," Santos said of the decision.

In Spain Monday, Santos said FARC and the government were now working on the two most sensitive issues -- agreements on reparations for war victims and the disarmament and reintegration of the 8,000-strong rebel force.

"This is why we are looking for political support so that any decision which Colombians take have international support," he said.

Santos was re-elected for a second term in June, defeating a right-wing challenger who had threatened to end the talks.

The Colombian president is using his tour to lobby for the creation of a European fund which would be used to finance agricultural projects that would replace cocaine cultivation.

Santos will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Wednesday, then go on to Portugal, France and Britain.

The EU describes Colombia as one of its "most important and trusted partners in Latin America," with relations improving steadily in recent years.


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