The European Union and its Member States represented in Liberia (Germany, Ireland, France and Sweden) congratulate the Liberian people on the Independence Day on 26th July. We welcome the leadership of His Excellency President George Manneh Weah and the Government of Liberia in tabling and proceeding a proposal for the full legal abolition of the death penalty. We furthermore welcome the unanimous vote in the Liberian Senate and look forward to find an occasion to jointly commemorate this historic achievement taking place amidst the Bi-centennial Anniversary and 175 years of independence as a free democracy.

The death penalty is a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment contrary to the right to life. It is incompatible with human dignity and makes any miscarriage of justice irreversible. While there has been in Liberia since 2005 a moratorium on the implementation of the death penalty, its full legal abolition constitutes an important and essential step to ensure the full respect of human dignity. It increases the perception of the Republic of Liberia as a free liberal democracy and sends positive signals to the business community considering potential job creating investments as well as to European citizens considering to visit Liberia.

Moreover, this move towards abolition of the death penalty is a concrete demonstration of the values shared by the people of Liberia and Europe, and we look forward to continue our common endeavours to ensure the respect for human rights multilaterally and regionally.

The Republic of Liberia currently plays an important role to restore peace, security, stability, democracy and constitutional order in its Sisterly Republics in the region. The European Union re-affirms its readiness to support the Republic of Liberia and ECOWAS in these endeavours.

Those same values inspire the strong positions adopted by the Republic of Liberia after the illegal and unprovoked aggression of Ukraine by Russia, and its firm and decisive stance on human rights in the United Nations through the untiring diplomatic initiatives of His Excellency Ambassador Dee-Maxwell Saah Kemayah, Sr, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The European Union and its Member States appreciate the constructive and regular exchanges based on shared values held with Minister Kemayah as well as with the Honourable Cllr. Musa F. Dean, Minister of Justice and Attorney General, at the fruitful exchanges in the 10th EU-Liberia Political Dialogue and in other formats. The EU and its Member States look forward to continuing our active cooperation to ensure the full respect for human rights and the promotion of the values of liberal democracy in multilateral fora and within the region.