Ashton refutes accusations France left alone in Mali

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton Thursday brushed off charges that Europe has left France alone in its military adventure in Mali. "France is not alone, France is a key part of the EU and France has acted in exactly the right way in addressing a concern in response to request from the President of Mali and in the contest of international community," Ashton told a press conference after an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels today to discuss events in Mali. She said the 27 EU countries are cooperating "on a comprehensive approach to the short, medium and long term for the region." Ashton announced the EU Foreign Affairs Council agreed to establish an EU mission to train and advice Malian arm forces. The mission will start in the coming days in the country. "We are also stepping up our humanitarian assistance; we have already mobilized over this last year 93 million Euros for the food crisis and political crisis in Mali," said Ashton Earlier today the leader of the Liberals Group in the European Parliament, Guy Verhofstadt, said the situation in Mali has underlined that EU defence policy is left to individual EU member states to handle when it should be coordinated at EU level. "I deplore the lack of progress towards a common European defence strategy and so clearly demonstrated by the EU's reaction to the situation in Mali and indeed Libya before that," he said in press statements. Meanwhile, foreign minister of Mali Tieman Coulibaly briefed the EU foreign ministers on the current situation in Mali. "We had a very interesting discussion with the European Foreign Ministers. We came looking for their support and their commitment to launch the EU training mission to help the Malian army as soon as possible," he told a separate press conference. "We also ask them to mobilize all resources available for humanitarian assistance. Of course it is up to Mali now to produce his own roadmap and to submit it to the assembly and to publish it. This is a precondition that has been set," he added