‘In EU interest’ to help Mozambique fight terrorism, Portugal can lead dialogue – minister

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‘In EU interest’ to help Mozambique fight terrorism, Portugal can lead dialogue – minister

5:01 CAT | 28 Jan 2021

File photo: Lusa

Portugal’s defence minister, João Gomes Cravinho, said on Thursday that it was in the “European Union’s interest” to help Mozambique in the fight against terrorism and said that Portugal “has exceptional conditions” to lead the dialogue with the Mozambican authorities.

“We believe it is in the EU’s interest, in its fight against terrorism, before terrorist organisations manage to consolidate their presence in the north of the country, destabilising Mozambique and, from then on, the whole of Southern and Eastern Africa”, he said during a hearing in the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence (EP).

“This work to combat terrorism requires a very close dialogue with the Mozambican authorities and I believe that my country has exceptional conditions for the promotion of this dialogue”.

Mr Cravinho said the EU had to use “a number of instruments” at its disposal, saying it should initially focus on “training the Mozambican military”.

“He said that the EU had to work in the humanitarian field because hundreds of thousands of Mozambicans were displaced. We have to work on development in the northern region of Mozambique, a specific agency has been established for that purpose and we will have to support it. But first we will have to work on the training of Mozambican military so that they can respond to the security situation,” he said.

Asked by MEPs about the possible support he could have from other member states in his dialogue with Mozambique, Gomes Cravinho said that since he took office as a minister in 2018 there had been “a very important change in the attitude of European countries towards the African continent”.

“I think that in 2018 it was mainly an issue for those who had historical, geographical, closer links with African countries. Today, most EU countries realise that what happens in terms of security and stability in Africa has consequences for us Europeans”, he stressed.

With regard to the specific situation of Mozambique, he underlined that it is still “at the beginning of the possible process of setting up a training mission in Mozambique” similar to the EU Training Mission in Mali (UETM).

The armed violence in the northern province of Mozambique, where the largest private multinational investment in Africa is taking place for the exploitation of natural gas, is causing a humanitarian crisis with more than 2,000 deaths and 560,000 displaced people, without housing or food, which has led the Mozambican authorities to ask the EU for help.

Source: Lusa