The European Union welcomes the initial success of the amnesty offered by Nigeria’s President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to militants in the Niger Delta. The EU hopes this will be an important step towards restoring peace and bringing development to the region.

In this perspective, the EU also welcomes the readiness to engage in a Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration process. The EU encourages the Government of Nigeria to continue its effort to ensure sustainable rehabilitation and reintegration of the former militants.

The EU equally encourages the Government of Nigeria to seize this opportunity to continue engaging all concerned stakeholders in dialogue and to implement a comprehensive development strategy for the Niger Delta that addresses the root causes of the strife in the region.

The EU underlines its commitment to supporting the Government of Nigeria in the process of restoring peace and bringing development to the region on the basis of the “Nigeria-EU Joint Way Forward”.

The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Armenia and Georgia align themselves with this declaration.

* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process