Date of release : 31-01-2005

Policy area : General Affairs and External Relations

Event : General Affairs and External Relations Council

While the Council of the European Union saluted the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on 9 January in Naivasha that ended the decade-old north-south conflict, on January 31 it stated its deep concern over reports of observers from the African Union according to which several villages were bombed between last 13 and 26 January in the province of Darfur. These attacks by the Sudanese Air Force resulted in over one hundred civilian victims. The Council condemned these attacks in the strongest terms. The evolution of relations between the EU and Sudan will depend on the actual implementation of the commitments made by the Sudanese Government, particularly in the context of the N’Djamena ceasefire.