Dialogue with Maldives "difficult and irregular", need permanent presence: Krissler

Head of the European External Action Service (EEAS) for the Maldives region, Dietmar Krissler has said that the EU needs to have a permanent representative in the Maldives in order to face the challenges it is having with the country.

Krissler made the statement while exchanging views with the EU Parliament Committee of Foreign Affairs in Brussels, Belgium on Monday.

He said that "it is a real problem" that the EU is not represented in the Maldives, adding that it has made dialogue "difficult and irregular".

Noting that EEAS would like to appoint a permanent representative "to respond much better to all the challenges with the Maldives," Krissler noted that this is "not very realistic at this point in time".

However, he did not that the Maldives government is "very keen" to work with the EU, adding that it has invited the organization to conduct a mid-term assessment.

A follow-up mission to the Maldives is set for September, Krissler added.

He also noted various other issues in the Maldives, including human rights violations, government's insistence to resume the death penalty, as well as radicalism, which Krissler noted was very high on the agenda when an EU team visited the Maldives in May.

"A strong message was passed to the government of EU's principled rejection of the application of the death penalty," he added.

While one of the four parliament members who spoke at the discussion suggested making tourists aware of the situation, Krissler said he found the idea interesting, adding that he will point it out to others as well.

Afterwards, David McAllister, chair of the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee urged the political groups to "at least" discuss on whether there should be another resolution on the Maldives.