SFA Locsin, EU Ambassador-Designate Boost Cooperation on COVID-19 Response, Other Areas
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. (left) and Ambassador-designate and Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to the Philippines Luc Veron (right) (Photo by DFA-OPCD Jeffrey Mendoza).
PASAY CITY 26 January 2021 – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. received Ambassador-designate and Head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to the Philippines Luc Véron during a courtesy call at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on 25 January 2021. Ambassador-designate Veron arrived in Manila on 15 December 2020, to assume his post as the EU’s top diplomat in the country.
Secretary Locsin welcomed the implementation of the Philippines-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) through the conduct of three inaugural subcommittee meetings this year, including the first on Trade, Investment and Economic Cooperation on 29 January 2021. He also highlighted the Philippines’ commitment to constructive engagement on human rights issues and expressed appreciation for the support of several EU member states during the 45th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in October 2020.
Ambassador-designate Veron noted that the unprecedented global public health situation has presented states with a unique opportunity to work with one another and shared that the EU has allocated 850 million EUR through COVAX to provide COVID-19 vaccine doses for low- and middle-income countries, including the Philippines, by the end of 2021. He also expressed optimism that the partnership between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the EU in the aftermath of the pandemic would continue to thrive under the Philippines’ leadership as Country Coordinator for 2021-2024. END