The 5th AU-EU Summit for the year of 2017 kicked off on Wednesday (11/29/207) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The summit saw the attendance of Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, Chairperson of the African Union, Alpha Conde, and Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security. Heads of State and Governments from both Africa and Europe Including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Ethiopian Prime Minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, French President Emmanuel Macron, South African president Jacob Zuma, Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame and Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo among others attended the summit. The Summit will continue into its second day tomorrow.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has met with Italian Prime Minister, Paolo Gentiloni and Polish president, Andrzej Duda at the margins of the Summit. Discussion with his Italian counterpart focused on Bilateral diplomatic and technical cooperation. The Revitalization of South Sudan Peace Process was the main point of discussion where both have concurred to the notion that speaking with undivided, one voice and a collective support to the process as a way forward in bringing lasting peace in South Sudan.
The Prime Minister also has conferred with the High Representative of European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security, Federica Mogherini. The two had a fruitful discussion on South Sudan Revitalization Process progress and both expressed their satisfaction on the level where the peace process has reached with its last pre-forum consultation meeting of IGAD Council of Ministers in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire towards the convening of the High-Level Revitalization Forum.
