- The European Union’s foreign affairs and security policy representative, Josep Borrell, is on tour to South Africa and Botswana.
- One of the highlights of Borrell’s visit to SA would be the launch of Team Europe’s “A Just and Green Recovery for South Africa”.
The European Union’s foreign affairs and security policy representative, Josep Borrell, is on tour to South Africa and Botswana. Borrell arrived on Thursday afternoon, making him the third international envoy to visit southern Africa for a week.
According to a statement from the EU Commission, Borrell is expected to “participate in EU-South Africa bilateral consultations, ahead of the ministerial political dialogue”. On Friday, Borrell and International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor co-chaired the 15th South Africa-European Union Ministerial Political Dialogue. The dialogue will be an opportunity to take stock of the overall cooperation between the EU and South Africa and prepare for the EU-South Africa Summit.
The EU Commission said, “Ministers will discuss the next steps to further strengthen the South Africa-European Union strategic partnership at a time when the relation between the two has grown in depth and ambition despite the challenging international context. They will also review the strategic partnership focusing on mutual interest, including peace and security, multilateral cooperation, bilateral trade and investment, vaccine production and health, climate change, renewable energy, the just energy transition, science, innovation and education.”
One of the highlights of Borrell’s visit to SA would be the launch of Team Europe’s “A Just and Green Recovery for South Africa”. The initiative seeks to address SA’s climate change challenges, biodiversity, clean energy and protection promotion, participation and socio-economic empowerment of women and the youth.