The European Union’s fisheries commissioner said Tuesday that he was withdrawing a proposal for a fisheries partnership with Guinea, saying it would be ‘politically unacceptable’ to go ahead.
Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg said he had told EU nations that ‘in the light of the recent tragic events in the Republic of Guinea, I would be asking the commission to initiate the necessary procedures to withdraw the proposal.’
The proposal to ‘adopt the current Fisheries Partnership Agreement and Protocol’ concerned only tuna fishing. The agreement was initialed in December.
It allowed for aid of around 450,000 Euros (674,000 dollars) a year to help develop Guinea’s fisheries sector and a further 1.6 million Euros over four years to develop a system to better control fishing there.
‘In the current uncertain context there is no doubt that it would be politically unacceptable for the commission to proceed with a financial transfer to Guinea,’ Borg said in a statement.
The United Nations estimates that about 150 people were killed in a Conakry stadium on September 28 when troops opened fire on a rally urging junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara not to stand in elections planned for January.
The junta says 56 people were killed, while rights groups say that at least 157 people were killed and more than 1,200 hurt, including women who were raped by soldiers.
