In the face of North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, leaders of the European Union(EU) have vowed to raise pressure on the North and mull additional sanctions.
 
Heads of state who attended the two-day EU summit in Brussels, Belgium that opened on Thursday said in a final statement that the North’s recent behavior “is unacceptable and poses a significant threat to the Korean peninsula and beyond.”
 
The leaders also expressed support toward new EU sanctions against the North which were adopted at the EU’s Foreign Affairs Council earlier on Monday in Luxembourg.  
 
Under the new sanctions, the EU completely bans the sale of refined petroleum products and crude oil to the North.
 
The leaders also said in the statement that the EU “will consider further responses in close consultation with partners and will continue to reach out to third countries urging the full implementation of UN sanctions."
 
They also called on Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete and irreversible manner.

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