EU warns of ethnic division of South Sudan

The European Union Tuesday urged for an immediate end to hostilities in South Sudan and warned that if not contained the crisis risks affecting a much wider region and could also lead to an ethnic split of the country. "The danger is that if the situation is not brought back to some degree of political normality, the trend towards a very, very unpleasant division of the country inevitably on ethnic lines will develop," Alexander Rondos, EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa, told a press conference in Brussels today. Referring to the ongoing peace talks between the warring parties in Nairobi, Kenya, he said two decisions are needed very promptly, one is a formal agreement on cessation of hostilities and second the beginning of a credible political dialogue including the release of political prisoners. "That is the sole responsibility of the parties to this conflict. They began this and they have to finish it. In two-and-a-half years (since independence) they have failed to deliver and they have been given a lot," said Rondos, who has just returned from the region. "No one else has got mixed up in this. Sudan is not the bad boys. They are concerned as anyone else. In fact I will go so far as to acknowledge the restraint which they (Sudan) have acted. This is a very interesting signal which we ought to pay attention and acknowledge," he stressed. He said there is a mutual concern in Sudan about the loss of oil revenue from diminishing production. There is a danger that the pressure that is needed to keep pumping oil will diminish which means that it will shut down. Sudan has also its interests and its concern in oil production, said Rondos. Nick Westcott, managing director for Africa in the EU's foreign service, called the European External Action Service, warned that every additional day of fighting will put the country back again. He said the situation in South Sudan must be avoided to develop like Somalia. "We don't want twenty years of ethnic and regional conflict in South Sudan. The Central African Republic looks like is heading the same way. We must take action before that happens," he told the joint press conference. The EU has announced 50 million euro for humanitarian action in South Sudan, noted Westcott.