France confirms dissolution of WEU
16:55, 1 April 2010
PARIS. April 1. KAZINFORM. France and its European peers have decided to dissolve the Western European Union (WEU) as the new European charter Lisbon Treaty has started to be applied across European Union, French Foreign Ministry confirmed Wednesday in a statement; Kazinform refers to China Daily.
"It's a decision logically resulted from the improvement of Europe's construction and the progress of Lisbon Treaty," the ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said in the statement.
Since all members of the WEU have become members of the European Union, they unanimously agreed to dissolve the old union, the statement added, noting that the historical role of WEU has fully completed with the EU establishment.
The dissolution will take effect in June 2011, the statement confirmed. Belgium and Bulgaria have announced the dissolution in their earlier statements; Kazinform cites China Daily. See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version.