• EU envoys assured that the Ministers of their respective countries would have an urgent meeting to discuss this

By Kelum Bandara  

Sri Lanka sought cooperation with European Union to get Covid-19 vaccines required for roll-out in the country, Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardane said.   

The Minister told Daily Mirror that he had a cordial meeting with the envoys of EU countries resident in Colombo on Tuesday and discussed bilateral matters. He said EU-Sri Lanka cooperation, the regular annual review of GSP + trade facility for Sri Lanka and vaccine cooperation were key among the matters discussed.  “The EU envoys assured that the Ministers of their respective countries would have an urgent meeting to discuss this,” he said.  However, nothing was discussed about the UNHRC process.  Ambassador of the Delegation of the European Union to Sri Lanka Denis Chaibi, French Ambassador Eric Lavertu, Italian Ambassador Rita Mannella, the Ambassador of the Netherlands Tanja Gonggrip, German Ambassador Holger Seubert and the Chargé d’Affaires of Romania Victor Chiujdea participated in the meeting. State Minister of Regional Cooperation Tharaka Balasuriya, Foreign Secretary Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage and senior officials of the Foreign Ministry were also present.