The Indonesian Foreign Minister has said that the European Union (EU) intends to lift as soon as possible its ban on Indonesian airlines flying to Europe.

Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda made the remarks after receiving a letter from EU Commissioner for External Relations and Neighborhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner, English daily The Jakarta Post reported on August 2.

"I want to underline the strong commitment from me to support your government to solve the problem in a spirit of the mutual trust which has been developed in recent years," Hassan read the letter.

On August 1, Hassan met with EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) Javier Solana in Manila, the Philippines. After the meeting, Hassan said Solana had expressed a similar desire to solve the problem.

"I can say that it will probably be solved in October," he said.

Hassan said he had earlier expressed his disappointment over the flight ban in an official letter to Ferrero-Waldner because Indonesia and the EU had agreed to sign a partnership and cooperation agreement, which included the possibility of cooperation in air transportation.

He said Ferrero-Waldner had asked Indonesia to take a two-pronged course of action.

"First, we need to strengthen the monitoring capacity of our aviation authorities and second, the airlines themselves need to make their airplanes in accordance with international standards so that the ban can be dropped."

The European Commission (EC), the executive arm of the EU, decided in July to ban all Indonesian airlines, including national flag carrier Garuda Indonesia, from the EU.