17 Mar 2007

European Union to decide fate of Fiji aid package in June

9:31 am on 17 March 2007

The European Union will not make a decision on the future of its 210-million US dollar aid programme to Fiji until June.

Fiji TV reports that this is because the meeting between European Union officials and representatives of the Fiji interim administration will take place late in April.

The EU delegate to Fiji, Roberto Ridolfi, says the EU will be seeking certain assurances about human rights and the return to democracy from the Fiji delegation.

He says depending on the outcome, the European Commission will make its decision on Fiji at its June meeting.

The EU is Fiji's biggest aid donor under the Cotonou Agreement between Europe and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.