6th European Union–African Union Summit

The 6th European Union–African Union Summit took place in Brussels on 17 and 18 February 2022.[1] Initially scheduled for October 2020, the event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The summit was co-chaired by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel and the President of Senegal who at the time served as the Chairperson of the African Union, Macky Sall.[1] The event brought together representatives of the EU and the AU as well as of their member states.[3]

6th European Union–African Union Summit
Host country Belgium
Date17–18 February 2022
CitiesBrussels
Follows5th European Union - African Union Summit

A research hired by the European Commission concluded that despite being Africa's top trading partner, European Union is not perceived as a major partner for African states with the United States and China ranked higher.[4] The summit was organized to address some of those concerns as well as complex issues related to aspects of African immigration to Europe and the European Union response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4][5] The AERAP Africa-Europe Science Collaboration Platform organised a side event on the contribution of collaborative research and development to EU-Africa relations.[6]

Protests
Further information: Operation Wuambushu, M23 offensive (2022–2023), and Tigray War

Just outside the summit location in the European Council, nationals from the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia all protested against injustices happening in their own countries, blocking the entrance to the council.[7]

Comorians were heavily critical of French President Emmanuel Macron as being "responsible for all the misfortunes that hit the Comoros." Congolese protesters denounced presidents Paul Kagame and Yoweri Museveni of Rwanda and Uganda respectively, seeing them as playing a major role in destabilising the DRC. Ethiopians condemned the war crimes, massacres and sexual violence being committed in Tigray, and called for Eritrean forces to withdraw from the country.[7]

References
  1. "European Union - African Union summit, 17-18 February 2022". Council of the EU and European Council. n.d. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  2. "European Union - African Union summit, 17-18 February 2022". Business Europe. n.d. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  3. "European Union - African Union summit". EU Newsroom. n.d. Archived from the original on 16 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  4. "African and European Leaders Meet Against Backdrop of Enduring Problems". The New York Times. 17 February 2022. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  5. "EU scrambles to patch up relations at Africa summit". Politico. 16 February 2022. Archived from the original on 17 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  6. "European Union-African Union Summit, Science and Innovation side events, 14-18 February 2022". AERAP Science. n.d. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  7. "Protests in Brussels outside European council as 6th EU -Africa summit takes off". Africanews. 17 February 2022.

See also
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