EU, Mexico to step up fight against drugs

Representatives of the 27 EU countries and Mexico said in the statement they would continue efforts at combatting drugs focusing on reducing and eliminating their negative consequences for the economy.

The summit of the foreign ministers of the 27 EU and 23 Latin American countries which are members of the Rio Group has been held in Prague since Monday within the Czech EU presidency.

A large amount of drugs that end up in European markets originate from some south American countries.

Nicaraguan State Secretary Valdrak Jaetschke Whitaker told journalists today that Central America was not a direct producer of drugs, but it was a transit area between drug producers and their consumers from the EU and the USA.

"The EU has expressed its solidarity and preparedness to help solve the security situation," Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kohout said.

The EU-Mexico Joint Council mentioned fight against narcotics and organised crime in a joint communique that stressed strategic partnership in many areas.

Mexico and the EU consider fight against transnational organised criminal activities in all their forms a fundamental priority, the statement says.

For instance, drug cartels in northern Mexico have been fighting for control over lucrative drug smuggling routes along which narcotics have been transported from South America to the USA for many years. Annually, up to 950 tonnes of cocaine are smuggled to the USA acoss the border.

In the EU, Spain is an entrance gate for drugs from Latin America. Tonnes of cocaine flow through it from Columbia, Peru and Bolivia.

Talks of the EU-Chile Troika and the EU-Mercosur (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) Troika were also held in Prague today.

Chile, for instance, offered the EU wider cooperation in science and technologies.

Expanding trade and climate change were the main topics at the EU-Rio Group summit that ended today.

The foreign ministers also discussed the new H1N1 flu at the summit.

On Wednesday, they adopted a statement on the new flu.

The deadly new strain of swine flu has first broken out in Mexico that currently chairs the Rio Group.

There were fears of the swine flu infection also at the Prague press centre where journalists could receive information on its symptoms if they suddenly felt unwell.

However, the Mexican delegation pointed out that there was no reason to be afraid to travel to Mexico.

The new flu virus has afflicted 34 countries in which 6257 people have fallen ill, including 3352 in the USA and 2282 in Mexico.

In all, 65 people have died, including 60 people in Mexico.

No case of the new H1N1 flu infection has been confirmed in the Czech Republic.

Author: ČTK
www.ctk.cz