EU, AU pledge to boost their partnerships

BRUSSELS, May 23 (KUNA) -- The European Commission and the African Union Commission held their 9th meeting in Brussels Wednesday with the aim to strengthen Europe-Africa relations and cooperation.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker who chaired the meeting from the EU side said in press statements that: "we met today to translate words into concrete action.
We launched programs worth 400 million euro (USD 467 million) to support, amongst others, African youth, which is all the more important, as 60 percent of Africa's population is under 25 years old.
The future of the world depends on the good cooperation between Europe and Africa." African Union Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat added: "Multilateralism is the only response to today's global challenges in an increasingly polarised world.
The AU-EU partnership is based on shared values and shared responsibilities and offers a unique platform to address common challenges linked to peace, security and sustainable development on both our continents." The two commissions discussed their cooperation to enhance resilience, peace, security and governance, including support to African peace initiatives such as the G5 Sahel joint force, said an European Commission press release here tonight.
In this regard, the two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding reinforcing the existing cooperation in the area of peace and security. In addition, they agreed to continue and consolidate the important work made by the AU-EU-UN task force on migration.
The parties committed to invest in economies and people by stepping up existing cooperation on agriculture and agribusinesses and the digital economy, and dedicated themselves to continue the active engagement with youth in the Africa-EU partnership in innovative and meaningful ways. (end) nk.mb