Mozambique: ‘Essential, urgent’ to boost EU-Maputo ‘peace, security component’ – minister

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: ‘Essential, urgent’ to boost EU-Maputo ‘peace, security component’ – minister

7:40 CAT | 19 Apr 2021

Photo: Twitter / @JosCostaPereir3

The Portuguese Foreign Minister said on Monday that it was “absolutely essential” and “absolutely urgent” to strengthen the “peace and security component” in the EU-Mozambique relationship, after a meeting with his European counterparts.

The foreign minister was speaking at a press conference after the meeting of EU heads of diplomacy, which was held by videoconference and chaired from Brussels by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.

Underlining that the EU’s foreign policy is “made in three complementary dimensions” – “cooperation for development, humanitarian action and cooperation in peace and security” -, Augusto Santos Silva stressed that the first two dimensions “are already underway”, but their increase “requires indispensable security conditions”.

In this regard, the head of Portuguese diplomacy said that, during today’s meeting, Josep Borrell “raised” the issue of the decision-making process for a mission to support military training in Mozambique, which led to a “political discussion”, from which “two essential messages” came out.

“Firstly, to put our support mission on the ground. And secondly is the sense of urgency in this: the later we intervene to support Mozambique in its fight against terrorism, the stronger terrorism will become. Therefore, we will have to intervene as soon as possible,” he pointed out.

During today’s #fac AR @JosepBorrellF was adamant of the need for the EU to urgently support #Mozambique in fighting the insurgency in Cabo Delgado pic.twitter.com/TStzGyaCEy

— José Costa Pereira (@JosCostaPereir3) April 19, 2021

Recalling that the permanent representatives of the Member States to the EU “already endorsed, at the end of last March, the political framework document of the EU approach to this security dimension in its relationship with Mozambique”, Augusto Santos Silva said that “consultations with the specialized technical groups” are now underway.

Stressing that the mission in question would be carried out “in close contact with the Mozambican authorities,” the Foreign Affairs minister said that both in a letter that the head of Mozambican diplomacy, Verónica Macamo, sent to Josep Borrell in September, and in a trip that Augusto Santos Silva made to Mozambique in January, it was clear that Mozambique “was very interested in this strengthening being materialised through support, beyond logistical, in military training and education.

When asked when this military training mission could be carried out, Santos Silva said that “an internal EU decision-making process is underway which usually takes time” but reiterated its “urgent nature”.

Armed groups have been terrorising Cabo Delgado since 2017, with some attacks claimed by the ‘jihadist’ group Islamic State, in a wave of violence that has already caused more than 2,500 deaths, according to accounts made by Lusa, and 700,000 thousand displaced persons, according to the United Nations.

The most recent attack was made on March 24 against the town of Palma, causing dozens of deaths and injuries, in a balance that is still ongoing.

The Mozambican authorities regained control of the town, but the attack led oil company Total to abandon the gas project site indefinitely, which is due to start production in 2024 and on which many of Mozambique’s economic growth expectations for the next decade are anchored.

Canciller #polaco @RauZbigniew participó en videoconferencia de los Ministros de Asuntos Exteriores de la #UE. El encuentro se centró en la situación en #Ucrania y Etiopía. Los ministros también debatieron desarrollos en #Rusia, #Bielorrusia, Georgia, India, Myanmar y Mozambique. https://t.co/9Cg3TO9XX7

— PLenMéxico (@PLenMexico) April 19, 2021