Statement by EU High Representative Catherine Ashton following her meeting with the Prime Minister of Djibouti

BRUSSELS, Kingdom of Belgium, December 20, 2012/African Press Organization (APO)/ -- The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and VicePresident of the Commission issued the following statement today:

"It was a pleasure to meet Prime Minister Dileita Mohamed Dileita of Djibouti. I expressed our appreciation for Djibouti's contribution to combating piracy and strengthening regional maritime security, in particular by hosting the headquarters of our EUCAP %ESTOR mission.

I thanked the Prime Minister for Djibouti's logistical support to EU%AVFOR Atalanta, which has proven to be a great success in reducing significantly the number of pirate attacks in the Western Indian Ocean. I also welcomed Djibouti's continuous support to AMISOM through the provision of troops who risk their lives to help stabilise neighbouring Somalia.

We also discussed the role of IGAD, the regional organisation. I underlined that the EU values Djibouti's engagement to reinforce and restructure IGAD, called for strong engagement from all IGAD Member States and assured the Prime Minister that the EU remains committed to support them to improve IGAD's performance.

I told the Prime Minister of our continued support for political reforms in Djibouti, and underlined the importance of the rule of law and the respect for human rights. We spoke about Djibouti's approach to electoral reform. I look forward to sending an EU Electoral Expert Mission to Djibouti for the legislative elections in February 2013."