France, Germany unveil new partnership at EU-Africa summit
Merkel - Hollande - Photo EU Council
(BRUSSELS) - African and European leaders held crisis talks Wednesday on the "terrifying" violence in the Central African Republic, where peacekeepers have been unable to stop a deadly spiral of Christian-Muslim strife.
As some 80 leaders from the two continents kicked off a mammoth summit that locked down parts of Brussels, France and Germany announced a new partnership for Africa aimed at promoting peace and development as well as combatting the effects of climate change.
"We want to deploy our friendship on the ground," said French President Francois Hollande, adding that it was thanks to Germany that the European Union finally had been able to announce the launch of a delayed military mission to send 800 troops to CAR.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Berlin and Paris "are seeking to be a motor" in Africa's development as well as its security.
Germany, long reticent to take part in military missions, was on "a new path", Merkel said.
Delayed due to insufficient troop and aircraft commitments from member states, the launch of the EU operation in CAR was announced on the eve of the EU-Africa summit, which winds up Thursday.
Germany has contributed air transport, with Georgia, Spain, France, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Latvia, Poland and Portugal providing troops and Britain, Luxembourg and Sweden logistical support.
As chaos worsens in CAR, a score of leaders from the 54-member African Union and 28-nation EU gathered with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the crisis.
"We are deeply concerned of the desperate plight of the people of the CAR," said Ban, who is seeking Security Council endorsement for a 12,000-strong peacekeeping force to take over from the 8,000 African and French troops there.
Ban has warned the situation could spiral into genocide amid reports by the UN of child decapitations, cannibalism and widespread lynchings. Around a million people, a quarter of the population, have been displaced.
Britain announced a further 7.2 million euros in aid for CAR at the summit, bringing its contribution to 27.8 million euros, but there were no other immediate announcements from the EU, which has already contributed some 350 million euros.
- A partnership of equals -
As delegations got down to the business of addressing illegal migration, trade and security problems elsewhere on the continent, EU leaders insisted they were seeking a partnership of equals.
"Europe needs Africa's help... to tackle climate change, which threatens all of us, to manage migration so that it benefits both of us, and to improve the security of both our continents," said EU Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
The summit comes more than three years after late Libyan leader Moamer Khadafi hosted the last EU-Africa summit in Tripoli.
The seizure of Khadafi's massive stocks of arms by mercenaries after his Arab Spring ouster is blamed in part for the unrest that has unravelled across vast swathes of Africa, notably in Mali and Niger.
The EU has waded in to help UN and African peacekeepers restore peace in those countries as well as in Somalia.
An overwhelming majority of leaders from both continents attended, though a notable stay-away was Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, boycotting in protest at an EU refusal to temporarily suspend a visa ban on his wife.
Also absent was Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges -- another irritant in Europe-Africa relations, with some Africans complaining they should be left to decide their own justice.
- 'An attractive bride' -
Trade has been another cause of tension as the two blocs struggle to agree deals that would give Africa better access to EU markets while lifting African tariffs seen as a vital source of state income and a needed protection to its fledgling industry.
Meanwhile China has increased its presence in Africa, while India, Brazil, Turkey and South Korea are all looking for opportunities as stability and growth improve.
"In just a few years Africa has become an attractive bride that can choose among several candidates," said analyst Geert Laporte of the European Centre for Development Policy Management.
The EU continues to be Africa's largest donor but now is looking to switch from its historic role of providing assistance to a more dynamic one of investor.
"The need for investment in Africa is so huge that the more investment coming, the better," EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs told AFP.
EU - Africa relations