The EU has put €50m behind a 5,000 strong force in Africa's Sahel region
The EU has put €50m behind a 5,000 strong force in Africa’s Sahel region (Source: French ministry of defence)

THIS WEEK: EU turns to Africa, as Middle East burns

By Andrew Rettman,
Brussels
,

THIS WEEK offers a weekly snapshot of the key developments in Brussels and across Europe over the next seven days, published every Monday morning.

EU diplomacy will turn to Africa this week, while Brussels goes back to kitchen-sink affairs, in the shadow of a failed Ukraine summit and the Middle East war.

EU foreign and trade ministers will meet in Yaoundé, Cameroon, over four days starting on Thursday (26 March) at a World Trade Organisation (WTO) congress.

EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas will also visit Nigeria on Monday and Ghana on Tuesday, where she will sign a security and defence partnership.

The WTO event comes amid EU efforts to counter US president Donald Trump’s assault on multilateral institutions, via unilateral trade tariffs and military attacks on Iran and Venezuela.

The west Africa visits and Ghana security accord also come after a series of coups, fuelled by Russian propaganda and anti-colonialism, drove out French-led military forces from the region, diminishing European power.

Face-to-face time with Rubio

For her part, Kallas and French, German, Italian, British, Canadian, and Japanese foreign ministers will have their first opportunity for face-to-face talks since the Iran war with US secretary of state Marco Rubio at a G7 ministerial meeting in Vaux-de-Cernay, France, on Thursday and Friday.

To read this story, log in or subscribe

Enjoy access to all articles and 25 years of archives, comment and gift articles. Become a member for as low as €1,75 per week.

Become a member
The EU has put €50m behind a 5,000 strong force in Africa’s Sahel region (Source: French ministry of defence)

Topics

Author Bio

Andrew Rettman Andrew Rettman is EUobserver’s foreign editor, writing about foreign and security issues since 2005. He is Polish, but grew up in the UK, and lives in Brussels. He has also written for The Guardian, The Times of London, and Intelligence Online.