Europe

Europe

EU foreign policy chief inaugurates office in Libyan capital

12 November 2011 20:59 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Visiting European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Saturday inaugurated the new headquarters of EU’s delegation in the Libyan capital of Tripoli, and called for strengthened bilateral ties in the future, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"It’s a great pleasure for me to be in Libya to open the new headquarters of EU delegation," EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Ashton said, after talks with Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, Chairman of Libya’s now ruling National Transitional Council (NTC).

She called the inauguration an expression of EU’s commitment to the Libyan people.

"I congratulate for the progress you have made," said Ashton, who pledged to offer more assistance in Libya’s coming elections and reconstruction after the country’s months-long domestic violence which ended up with the death of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in late October.

On May 22, Ashton opened an EU office in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city and where anti-Gaddafi protests started. After Tripoli fell into the NTC’s control, she sent a team to the capital on Aug. 31 to prepare for the opening of a resident- delegation.

According to EU statistics, the pan-European organization has provided more than 155 million euros (about 220 million U.S. dollars) worth of humanitarian help and other assistance since the beginning of Libyan crisis in mid-February.