The Indonesian Embassy in Brussels, Belgium in collaboration with the European Parliament launched the Indonesia-European Parliamentary Friendship Group (IEPFG) for 2021-2024 period on Tuesday (9/11). According to a written statement from the Indonesian Embassy in Brussels, received by Antara in Jakarta on Wednesday 10/11), the launch was attended by members of the European Parliament, officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Union Europe (EU) and the Council of Europe, the Mayor of Edegem, the Indonesian Honorary Consul for the Flemish region, Belgium and Luxembourg, as well as staff from members of the European Parliament.
Indonesian Ambassador to the Kingdom of Belgium and Luxembourg and the European Union, Andri Hadi in his remarks at the launch of the IEPFG emphasized that Indonesia and the EU are important partners in finding solutions to various regional and multilateral problems. The IEPFG is a forum for dialogue and communication between Indonesia and the EU to enhance understanding and seek joint solutions, particularly in many fields related to inter-parliamentary cooperation.
The launch of the IEPFG signifies the importance of parliamentary diplomacy between Indonesia and the EU in ensuring lots of pro-people strategic policies of the government. IEPFG can also enrich and improve the quality of relations between Indonesia and the EU based on the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) since 2014.
Several important values and principles shared between Indonesia and the EU are pluralism, democracy, development, sovereignty, mutual respect, tolerance, equality and non-discrimination. The launch of the IEPFG for the period 2021-2024 was inaugurated with the adoption of the Joint Press Release.