African Union: The AU rejected the UDI as "null and of no value whatsoever" and appealed to the rest of the world to ignore it.[9] The AU's commission chairperson Jean Ping's office issued a statement that read he "calls on the international community as a whole to fully support this principled position of Africa".[2] Economic Community of West African States: ECOWAS declared they would "take all necessary measures, including the use of force, to ensure the territorial integrity" of Mali.[10] ECOWAS announced preparations for a 3,000 personnel intervention force to contain the rebels and protect the constitution of Mali.[11] European Union: The spokeswoman for the Representative for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Ashton, said that the EU respected Mali's territorial integrity.[5] Richard Zinc, EU representative in Bamako, said that it was "out of question" that the EU would accept the declaration.[13]