The ninth summit between the African Union (AU) Commission and the European Union (EU) Commission, open on the last Wednesday (23)in Brussels, to, among other things, assess the status of the strategic partnership between the two parties.
Under the joint presidency of Mahamat Fakhi, president of the AU Commission, and Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the EU Commission, the meeting will also take stock of the EU-AU summit in September 2017 in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire ).
The main points on the agenda of this Abidjan conference were peace and security, governance, investments, sustainable development, migration and education.
In terms of peace and security, a document sent to the press details the seven EU operations currently deployed in Africa, namely Eucap/Somalia, Eucap Sahel/Mali, Eucap Sahel/Niger, Eunavor Méd/Atalanta, Eutm/Somalia, Eutm/Mali and Eutm/Central African Republic.
Eutm operations are mandated to train and form a new Army.
In the Central African Republic (CAR), following the authorization given by the United Nations (UN) to Russia to supply weapons of war to this country affected by an embargo, the Russians deployed battalions of soldiers on the ground to instruct military units and guarantee the security of the Presidency, in particular, a role played until then by the Rwandan contingent of UN troops.
The document transmitted to the press explains that, through the UNAVOR/Atalanta mission, the EU fights militarily against maritime piracy in the Indian Ocean.
EU military missions in Africa are training 10,000 soldiers in the countries where they are deployed.
At least 192,000 Africans directly benefit from the EU’s multifaceted humanitarian aid in post-conflict countries.
The EU supports the G5 Sahel countries in the fight against jihadists and cross-border crime.
The European Union has mobilized two billion and 700 million euros under the African Peace Mechanism program since 2004.
Furthermore, AMISOM, the AU mission in Somalia, receives financial support in the amount of one million and 500 thousand euros under which Burundian soldiers operating in AMISOM are paid.