Mauritius reluctant to sign EU pirates deal

(BRUSSELS2) The signing of an agreement - rather an MOU - Memorandum of Understanding - between the European Union and Mauritius, to judge the alleged pirates seems compromised. On the eve of the regional conference, on October 7, the Prime Minister, who is also Minister of Defense and the Interior, Navin Ramgoolam, indeed indicated to our colleagues in Mauritius that he would not sign anything because he disagrees with certain terms of the MOU. What is at issue, in fact, is the inclusion in the agreement that the death penalty cannot be applied to suspects transferred by military ships operating under the European flag. The Mauritian official does not intend to give in fearing that this will be conceived as a questioning of the death penalty. But on the European side, we don't intend to give in either. " This is a key point of the agreement. It's a matter of principle “, we specify. We can, however, conceive of the Prime Minister's refusal as a negotiating posture.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)