The third round of European Union-Guyana Political Dialogue, under the framework of Article Eight of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP)-EU Cotonou agreement, was held on Wednesday at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The previous rounds of political dialogue took place in 2009 and 2010. The Guyanese delegation was headed by Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, and included Director General Elisabeth Harper; the Americas Department Director, Ambassador Audrey Waddell; acting Multilateral and Global Affairs Department Director, Deborah Yaw; Foreign Trade Department Director, Rajdai Jaggernauth; Chief of Protocol, Esther Griffith and Frontiers Department acting head Donnette Streete.
The EU side was headed by Ambassador Robert Kopecký, head of the EU Delegation, and included British High Commissioner Andrew Ayre; German Ambassador Stefan Schlueter and Spanish Embassy Charge d’Affaires Beatriz Lorenzo Didic, who are both resident in Trinidad and Tobago; and French Embassy Charge d’Affaires Carolle Lucas and Dutch Embassy Political Counsellor Floor Nuiten, both resident in Suriname. The EU Delegation to Guyana’s political section head, Derek Lambe, also participated.
Mutual understanding
The objectives of the dialogue are to exchange information to foster mutual understanding and to facilitate the establishment of agreed priorities and shared agendas, in particular by recognising the existing links between the different aspects of the relations between the parties and the various areas of cooperation as laid down in the Cotonou Agreement.
The two sides engaged in constructive, wide-ranging and frank discussions on bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual concern. Discussions included political and economic developments in Guyana and the EU, EU-Guyana and regional development cooperation, human rights and governance, security, climate change, and regional integration.
In conclusion, the two sides expressed their satisfaction on the usefulness and continuity of the dialogue in the context of EU-Guyanese relations, and have agreed to hold the next political dialogue in one year’s time.
