Central America Bracing
for Agreement with
European Union
The presidents of five
the Central American
nations met in San José
Wednesday to seek a
common position for the
next round of
negotiations with the
European Union (EU).
The meeting held at Casa
Presidencial and was
attended by Costa Rican
President Oscar Arias
and his counterparts
Alvaro Colom of
Guatemala, Manuel Zelaya
of Honduras, Elias
Antonio Saca of El
Salvador and Daniel
Ortega of Nicaragua.
The EU and the five
Central American
countries have been
negotiating a treaty on
political cooperation
and a free trade
arrangement.
The previous, or second,
round of negotiations
were carried out from
Feb. 25-29 in Brussels,
while the next round is
slated for April in El
Salvador. The two sides
are scheduled to
conclude the talks in
2009.
The presidents would
discuss everything
concerning the treaty at
Wednesday's meeting to
seek a common position
for the upcoming
negotiations with the EU,
Costa Rican Foreign
Minister Bruno Stagno
told reporters.
One of the key issues
dividing the five
Central American
countries is their
stances toward the
International Criminal
Court (ICC) accord,
which the EU has
demanded they approve.
El Salvador and
Nicaragua have signed
the ICC accord, but the
other nations say they
have legislative
problems in ratifying
it.
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