At the end of the meeting, Dakar expects a “strong declaration, less political and more engaging.”
The European Union and the African Union are holding their sixth summit on 17 and 18 February in Brussels (Belgium). According to Senegal’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Aïssata Tall Sall, this summit must be more effective for both organisations.
“The other thing (is to) tell us that this final declaration that will sanction the summit must be strong, short, less political and more engaging. It must bind the feet and hands of Europe and Africa together in what they will do,” Ms. Sall said as she welcomed Thursday evening in Dakar, EU Commissioners visiting Senegal, which holds the chairmanship of the AU for the period 2022-2023.
Continuing, the head of Senegalese diplomacy said that “we are heading towards an extremely important summit for which we will redefine the form of our partnership before addressing the substantive issues because we want this summit to be much more effective than previous ones.”
“That is why we thought that together with you, this round table format is something pragmatic to enable us to achieve these results,” she added.
According to her, “Europe must have a great initiative for Africa to allow us to decompartmentalise, to break down barriers, to allow people and goods to pass across all borders without this being a difficulty.”
For her part, the executive vice-president of the European Commission, Margarette Vestager, praised the partnership between Africa and the European Union, promising that the EU will continue to accompany Africa so that it can meet the challenges of the day.
In the run-up to the EU-AU Summit, European Commissioners led by the President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, are visiting Dakar from 9 to 11 February 2022. The aim is to exchange views with the Senegalese authorities, Senegalese youth, civil society and the private sector on the main challenges and issues of Senegal’s socio-economic recovery.
The two parties also discussed the priorities of the EU-Senegal partnership as well as the priorities of the Senegalese agenda vis-à-vis the presidency of the African Union.
Receiving the delegation yesterday, President Macky Sall called for a “renewed partnership” with the EU. “Given the geographical proximity, Europe and Africa have an interest in working together,” said Macky Sall.
TE/lb/abj/APA