A long-planned dialogue between various Yemeni political parties and groupings will take place by the end of this year, Yemeni President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi said Wednesday, DPA reported.
"A commission is currently at work and we hope it will able to begin this dialogue before the end of this year," he told EU officials while on a visit to Brussels.
"If that initiative does not succeed for Yemen, then I think we are heading towards civil war," he added.
Hadi announced plans for the dialogue shortly after his win in a single-candidate election in February. He took power after his predecessor, Ali Abdullah Saleh, stepped down following months of mass protests against his rule.
During his meeting with EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso,Hadi discussed the variety of problems facing Yemen, including poverty, unemployment and attacks by insurgents suspected of links with al-Qaeda.
Barroso said Yemen had EU backing.
"There will be setbbacks, but we are making a bet on democracy," he said, announcing plans to support Yemen's private sector and civil society.
Barroso said the EU had committed itself in September to providing 170 million euros (219.4 million dollars) of aid to the country through 2014.