The European Union (EU) agreed to grant some 20 million euros (26 million U.S. dollars) to Angola for the next four years to help the country remove landmines buried during the armed conflicts ending in 2002, Angola's official news agency ANGOP reported on Tuesday.

Joao Gabriel Ferreira, the EU ambassador to Angola, was quoted as saying that the fund will be used in accelerating the landmine clearance process in Angola to promote the free circulation of people and goods and socio-economic development.

The EU will offer Angola another 17 million euros (22 million dollars) to back the country's water supply and sanitation projects.

The EU ambassador said water supply and basic sanitation projects are very important because they are meant for the population's well-being, particularly those residing in the rural and remote areas.

The European bloc started cooperation with Angola as early as the 1980s when it financed the country's humanitarian aid, the ambassador said, adding its focus has shifted to Angola's national economic reconstruction.

(Xinhua News Agency April 28, 2009)