Ashton warns of 'arc of instability' in Arab world

EU High Representative Catherine Ashton has warned of instability spreading in the Middle East and repeated her calls for dialogue to resolve the Syrian crisis. "Right now we are faced with what I describe as an arc of instability that is evolving across our own neighbourhood from Libya to Egypt, from the tragedy of Syria to Iraq. August in Iraq was the deadliest month in 5 years," Ashton told the Interparliamentary Conference in Vilnius, Lithuania, Thursday night. "I am also very much aware of the tragedy in Syria and although there are differences in some of the ways that we want to go forward, we are all united in some common things. The first and most obvious is that there has to be a political dialogue and solution and we will have to sit together," she stressed. Ashton noted that US Secretary of State John Kerry will be joining the EU foreign ministers' informal meeting in Vilnius on Saturday to discuss Syria. The EU foreign policy chief said that she has been eleven times in Egypt since the revolution took place two years ago. "But we went and continued to talk with Egyptians because we are trusted interlocutors within the country, within the region. They know that we talk to all and that our agenda is an agenda of support for the Egyptian people," she stated. Referring to Iran's nuclear issue, Ashton said she has already spoken to the new Iraninn Foreign Minister twice. " I am determined to ensure that if there is a prospect of a diplomatic solution we will find it and we will do all we can to ensure that the collaboration is effective. We work closely with Russia, with China, with the United States and with all European colleagues, but it is EU leadership in the work that we do," she added.