A meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on 18 July issued a statement condemning \"the Uzbek authorities\' refusal to allow an independent international inquiry into the recent events in [Andijon],\" according to a press release on the EU Council\'s website (ue.eu.int). Stressing that \"EU-Uzbekistan relations are based on mutual respect for the principles of democracy, rule of law, and human rights,\" the statement condemned \"the Uzbek leadership for breaching these principles in the light of the reported excessive, disproportionate, and indiscriminate use of force by the Uzbek security forces during the [Andijon] events.\" (RFE/RL)