The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, speaks in Bogotá, April 26, 2023 – Copyright AFP/Juan Carlos Cisneros Archive
The European Union will support upcoming peace talks between the Colombian government and dissident factions of the unarmed FARC guerrillas, the bloc’s head of diplomacy said on Wednesday.
“I am impressed by what President (Gustavo) Petro wants to do with his ‘total peace’ project,” said Josep Borrell, who arrived in Colombia on Tuesday.
“The European Union will accompany this process in everything it can, politically and economically.”
Petro has been negotiating in recent months with a number of armed actors in Colombia, many of them linked to drug trafficking, including paramilitary groups, criminal gangs and dissident groups that split from the Marxist FARC guerrilla movement when it signed a peace agreement with the government. in 2016.
Negotiations are scheduled to begin with the Estado Mayor Central, one of the FARC’s main dissident groups, in May.
“What worries me is that the process will require political energy, the commitment of Colombian society, enormous financial resources. And I can guarantee that the European Union will be by Colombia’s side in building this peace,” Borrell said.
Borrell also visited projects aimed at helping the large number of migrants who have crossed into Colombia from neighboring Venezuela, in the Santa Fe neighborhood of Bogotá.
He announced €10 million in aid to support migrant assistance projects, as well as $10 million for deforestation prevention efforts.
