Remarks by the High Representative/Vice-President, Federica Mogherini at the Joint Press Conference with U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry

Washington D.C., 4 May 2016

Thank you, John. Just a few words to thank you for receiving me again here in Washington. People will start saying I’m more in Washington than Brussels, which is a pleasure.

And to start from Syria, just to underline that results that your leadership in coordination with the Russian co-chair of the group on the cessation of hostilities is vital for so many people inside Syria that it is simply something we cannot lose. And the work that you have been doing, you and your teams, to restore that cessation of hostilities in these hours is crucial for us Europeans as well. My deputy is presently with Staffan de Mistura and Hijab meeting, exactly put across that same message. And you know well that the European Union will continue to work on the ground for the delivery of humanitarian aid wherever it is possible working with our counterparts in the region and inside Syria to make sure that the access is real to all parts of the country that need humanitarian assistance, and obviously, to work together also on the talks in Geneva to start with some substance that allows a transition and a change in governance. We are partners in this as well as we are partners, as you said, on all the other big issues that are so relevant for Americans and Europeans alike.

I was impressed listening to the words of President Obama in Europe last week reminding us Europeans how many things we’ve done together, and most of them fall under our foreign policy efforts together – from the Iran deal on which we are working hard – also me personally on the implementation – but also the climate change agreements that was made possible because Europe and America were strongly united in this and creating consensus to the SDGs, to the management of the big crisis we have all around Europe, from Ukraine, to Syria, to Libya. We value our partnership so much.

Today, we also have the U.S.-EU energy dialogue that constitute big part of our relationship that goes far beyond foreign policy and covers, again, energy, climates, economy, trade, so much. But this just to say eight years ago, I think I remember well the night in Chicago where President Obama was elected. He was saying that there were some alliances to restore. I think that that is exactly what we have wonderfully worked on, and it’s such an important and valuable thing to work together, and it’s also a pleasure. So thank you.