Press Office

Belmopan - 23 March, 2000.
In their meeting in Abuja, Nigeria, on 20th - 23rd March 2000 the ACP-EU Joint Assembly passed a resolution giving their unanimous support for Belize's right to sovereignty and called on Guatemala to respect Belize's long established and internationally recognized borders.

Parliamentarians of the three ACP subregions and Members of the European Parliament condemned the recent actions by Guatemala. They called upon the Governments of Belize and Guatemala to put into effect measures that will ease tensions along their border, and to establish a process for the early and definitive settlement of their differences in accordance with the principles and practices of the United Nations and with full respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Belize.

The parliamentarians were meeting in regular session of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly, which has been recently strengthened as an institutional arm of the ACP-EU partnership that was established in 1975. On the EU side it is made up of parliamentarians from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The ACP parliamentarians in the Joint Assembly represent the parliaments of the 71 member countries of Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific that form the ACP Group.

For a copy of the resolution coming out of Abuja, Nigeria, please contact Senior Information Officer Patrick Jones.