CASTRIES, Saint Lucia — OECS ministers of foreign affairs concluded a successful fifth meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (COMFA) on May 12, 2019. The meeting was held in St George’s, Grenada under the chairmanship of that country’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Peter David and involved ministerial representation by all members of the council except one which was represented at the level of ambassador/commissioner.

The meeting addressed a number of issues of critical concern to the OECS and its member states, including (inter alia):

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• Key developments in the international arena;
• Negotiations between the African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP) and the European Union (EU) on a new relationship to come into effect in 2020;
• The financial blacklisting of OECS member states (and others) by the EU as “non-cooperative tax jurisdictions;”
• The progressive enlargement of the OECS;
• Strategic joint diplomatic and commercial engagement in specified jurisdictions; and
• OECS climate action within the ambit of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and beyond.

In welcoming participants to the meeting, Ambassador Anthony Severin, the commission’s head of international relations, noted that the international geopolitical environment had become increasingly intense and complex and that it had continued to engage the full attention of…

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