7. Publicly condemn xenophobia and establish administrative procedures dealing with citizenship and residency, so as to improve the situation of foreigners resident in the Côte d’Ivoire; 8. Restart the dialogue with all political parties. During the subsequent three months, the E.U. maintained a dialogue with the Ivorian government, and determined that “a number of significant measures have been taken by the Ivorian authorities,” such as holding of local elections open to all political parties, launching of a dialogue including all parties, starting a national debate about reconciliation, and opening legal proceedings relating to some major human rights violations. For these reasons, on June 25, 2001, the E.U.’s Council of Ministers decided to resume gradual cooperation with Côte d’Ivoire, to be further reviewed and presumably restored in January 2002. However, the E.U. listed several areas of ongoing concern that will require further monitoring, including national reconciliation, the appointment of judges for the high courts, investigations and legal proceedings concerning acts of violence during 2000, and public condemnation of expressions of xenophobia.151 E.U. officials made clear, however, that these areas of concern do not represent benchmarks per se, and the idea of gradual resumption of aid is also linked to the difficulties of restarting assistance quickly once it has been stopped.152 151 152 European Union, General Affairs Council, Council meeting, Luxembourg, June 25, 2001, p.10-11. Human Rights Watch interviews with E.U. officials in Brussels, June 25 and 26, 2001. Human Rights Watch 66 August 2001, Vol. 13, No. 6(A)