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DIPLOMACY-POLITICS-EUROPE-AFRICA
New EU chief in Ethiopia for first trip outside bloc
ADDIS ABABA, Dec 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – European Commission president Ursula
von der Leyen arrived in Ethiopia on Saturday, her first trip outside Europe
since assuming her post, for meetings expected to touch on migration and
support for African security operations.
The former German defence minister, who took office December 1, landed in
the capital Addis Ababa during the morning and headed first to the African
Union headquarters for talks with AU chief Moussa Faki Mahamat.
She is scheduled to sit down later with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy
Ahmed, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate as the country prepares for
landmark elections next year.
The EU is Africa’s largest trading partner and biggest source of foreign
investment and development aid.
But the two blocs have struggled in recent years to find ways to curb the
number of African migrants heading north to Europe using perilous sea routes.
Just this week at least 62 migrants died when a boat capsized off the
coast of Mauritania.
Both African and European officials are keen to address root causes of
migration like poverty. The EU has also been a strong supporter of the AU’s
peace and security efforts.
Its African Peace Facility, a mechanism established in 2004, has allocated
more than 2.7 billion euros for peace and security operations, targeting 14
African-led operations in 18 countries.
Yet European officials have signalled they want to shift away from
providing stipends for troops in places such as Somalia, where the EU is a
main backer of the regional peacekeeping force known as AMISOM.
The AU has struggled to get member states to impose a 0.2 percent levy on
eligible imports so the body can provide more of its own financing — an
initiative the EU supports.
Following meetings with Faki and Abiy, von der Leyen, the commission’s
first woman president, plans to meet Ethiopian President Sahle-Worke Zewde,
the first woman to hold that title.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1315 hrs