Promise broken, says EU

The European Union today said Fiji’s military-led regime had broken its promise when it re-imposed a state of emergency yesterday.

The full statement from the EU’s Pacific headquarters in Suva follows:

EU STATEMENT ON THE REACTIVATION OF FIJI’S PUBLIC EMERGENCY REGULATIONS 2007

The European Union is concerned about the re-invocation of the Public Emergency Regulations in Fiji on 6 September, 2007.

This re-invocation, and the measures associated with it, appear to be in contravention of Commitment no. 2 under Section 3 of the list of commitments the Interim Government made to the European Union in Brussels on 18 April, as part of the consultations under Article 96 of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement.

In the European Union’s assessment, it is not apparent which threats to national security, public order and safety exist to justify such a drastic measure as bringing back the Public Emergency Regulations.

The Council of the European Union meets in Brussels today, Friday 7 September. The political situation in Fiji will be on the agenda. (END)