BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – MEMBER States of the OECS, to which St. Kitts and Nevis is an associate, and CARICOM may soon be seeing a broader partnership with the European Union.
This initiative comes following the handing over of the credentials of the new Ambassador of Slovenian to the Caribbean to CARICOM’s Secretary General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque at the organisation’s Headquarters in Georgetown, Guyana.
Speaking at the ceremony, the newly-appointed Ambassador, His Excellency Dr. Bozo Cerar, said his country was determined to deepen bilateral cooperation in areas where it has proven its value.
He said Slovenia would continue to contribute to the efforts of the international community with humanitarian relief whenever the Caribbean is faced with disasters.
According to a CARICOM release, Ambassador Cerar noted that there were numerous possibilities for the expansion and deepening of the relationship between CARICOM and Slovenia.
“I am determined to be working towards the advancement of these goals to the mutual benefit of Slovenia and the Caribbean Community.”
“It is our belief that free movement of goods goes hand in hand with free movement of people. For this reason, Slovenia advocates an EU visa liberalisation regime for the OECS (Organization of the Eastern Caribbean States) countries (conditional to their fulfillment of criteria), that still do not have a visa free regime, that should benefit both sides and its people,” Dr. Cerar added.
Secretary General LaRocque has sought the support of Slovenia in advocating for CARICOM regarding graduation in the EU development policy.
LaRocque opined that he was sure Slovenia understood the vulnerabilities of small states and would advocate on the Community’s behalf in the Councils of the European Union with respect to how the policy of ‘graduating’ middle income countries is applied.
He identified three critical issues in which CARICOM and Slovenia could successfully engage to facilitate advances within the community. These issues included the post 2015 Development Agenda, the ongoing global climate change negotiations and the fight against non communicable diseases.
“Each of these issues is of paramount importance to CARICOM. In fact they are, for us survival issues affecting how and if our children will inherit a quality of life that meets their expectations,” LaRocque said.
Other areas of technical cooperation expressed by the Secretary General include education and training, people-to-people contact, cultural exchange, tourism and trade.
He said he was convinced that the scope existed for action to be pursued in those areas while noting that a framework cooperation agreement in that regard would enable the implementation of programmes that positively impact people’s lives.
“There is a saying that if nothing is ventured nothing is gained. I dare us to venture in that spirit for the benefit of our peoples,” emphasised the General Secretary.
