Foreign Minister Tuomioja to a ministerial meeting between the EU and AU

Press release 409/2006
6 October, 2006

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja will attend a ministerial meeting between the European Union and the African Union in Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo, on Tuesday, 10 October. Tuomioja will lead the EU troika delegation.

The agenda of the meeting will focus on the development of EU-AU cooperation and African issues. A key issue will be the process of drafting the common EU-Africa Strategy. The strategy will further enhance cooperation between the EU and the AU and consolidate the coherence of the EU programmes with the African programmes in order to fulfil common goals. Immigration issues will also be discussed.

The current situations in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast and Somalia will be among the political issues raised.

The political dialogue between the EU and AU is very active. At the foreign minister level meetings are organised on a regular basis twice a year. The previous ministerial meeting was held in Vienna in May.

Further information: Deputy Director General Heli Sirve, Department for Africa and the Middle East, gsm +358 40 576 9471, and Director Jarno Syrjälä, Unit for European Common Foreign and Security Policy, gsm +358 40 836 0594