Spirit of dialogue between Togo political actors : EU

The chief of the Delegation of the European Union Commission in Togo, Filiberto Ceriani Sebregondi, on Wednesday said he was pleased about the spirit of dialogue established within the Togolese political class, stressing that dialogue and pragmatic understanding were important to settle problems and set the basis for progress.

He deplored the attachment of Togolese political leaders to the acrimonies of the past and said he was pleased to see political actors favouring dialogue despite their divergences.During a farewell toast at his residence in Lomé on Tuesday evening, Sebregondi sais he appreciated the relations that were reestablished between Togo and EU and encouraged political actors to work for the promotion of democracy and consolidation of peace.

"My greatest satisfaction has been to have had the privilege of witnessing the c rucial period of the return of dialogue between Togolese brothers who had been so divided and opposed one another in the past," the diplomat said.

Sebregondi was one of the actors of the negotiations between government and the opposition in 2006 that permitted peaceful elections in 2007 after the presidential polls, characterised by violence of 2005 that claimed some 500 lives and injured thousands of other citizens, according to UN investigations.

"Togo needs social peace to take the challenge of the economic and financial crisis and to get its sons and daughters out of poverty and cannot afford to get in to a new season of divisions and misunderstanding," he said.

Sebregondi returns to Brussels for a new post at the secretariat of development in charge of West Africa, after more than three years as chief of the Delegation of EU Commission in Togo.