Socialists and Democrats welcome the very first meeting between the leader of North Korea Kim Jong-un and the US President Donald Trump that took place today in Singapore. We have always said that dialogue and diplomacy are the best instruments to defuse tensions and we support the efforts for the complete denuclearisation of North Korea and the peace treaty for the Korean Peninsula. Yet, whether this historical meeting will succeed and go beyond the photo-ops remains to be seen.

 

 

“Yet another encouraging step forward has been made. From confrontation and the risk of a nuclear escalation to an historical meeting, the way was long but finally diplomacy and negotiations, backed by the EU, prevailed. Having the US on-board in the diplomatic camp, and trust between the US President and the North Korean leader, are both indispensable elements in the solution of the crisis.

 

“Nevertheless, we must now build on what has been achieved, and the EU must be engaged in future wider and deeper talks. Key regional actors will also have to be involved in future negotiations.  We cannot expect miracles, but diplomacy must continue its work to get to the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

 

“This is the only solution to the crisis; the only solution to guarantee regional stability and world peace and security, and the only solution to end isolation, poverty and the human rights violations for the people of North Korea. We must be very cautious though, enthusiasm must go hand in hand with realism. It's better to advance slowly but with strong and lasting results, rather than faster but with the risk of endangering all the progress made. No doubt that the reconsideration by the US President of the decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal would give much more credibility to the United States in the North Korean negotiations.”