Cowen Discusses the Fight against Drugs at EU-San Jose Group Meeting in Portugal
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Brian Cowen, TD was in Portugal today and yesterday for a meeting between EU and Latin American countries.
The meeting covered four main areas
- the consolidation of democracy in Latin America - the rule of law and social justice
- developments in regional cooperation as an instrument of sustainable development
- strengthening of Bi-Regional cooperation
- regional security - the fight against drugs
Several Latin American countries were represented.
The Minister said
"The fight against drugs has long been one of the key areas of cooperation between our two regions and the Summit and the Plan of Action give a new impetus to our shared efforts. It is clear that such shared efforts represent the only way forward in dealing with this major problem which is global in scale.
The closer cooperation envisaged in the Action Plan requires a concerted and conscious effort at all levels - police, judicial, technical and political - if it is to work here.
Our cooperation with Central America take place in the context of a wider regional approach also involving South America and the Caribbean.
Minister Cowen also had bilateral meetings with the Foreign Ministers of Bolivia, Mexico, Chile, Columbia, Panama, Brazil and El Salvador
Note to Editors
The Minister was speaking at the sixteenth Ministerial Conference on Political Dialogue and Economic Cooperation between the European Union and the San Jose Group.
