According to Barend Leyts, the spokesman for European Council President Charles Michel, the EU-AU summit will be preceded by “a one-hour informal meeting of the members of the European Council" to discuss the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, Poland’s PAP news agency reported.
The EU-AU get-together is expected to launch an ambitious Africa-Europe investment package geared to global challenges such as climate change and the COVID-19 health crisis.
Also on the agenda will be the tools and solutions to promote stability and security, officials said.
Piotr Müller, the spokesman for the Polish government, told reporters that “the summit will adopt a political document setting out the strategic relations between the EU and AU.”
The declaration will include “a renewal and a deepening of the partnership with Africa,” Müller said.
During the get-together, European and African leaders are set to discuss topics ranging from the financing of economic growth, the healthcare system and the production of vaccines, to sustainable development, migration and mobility, as well as climate change and energy transition, the PAP news agency reported.
PM to outline Polish approach
Müller also told the media that Morawiecki would on Thursday brief fellow leaders on "Poland's stance regarding climate change and energy transition" as well as digitisation and transport.
On Friday, Morawiecki is expected to discuss farming and sustainable development, according to Müller.
The Polish prime minister will also hold talks with leaders of selected African countries on strengthening cooperation in various areas, Müller added.
Meanwhile, Morawiecki announced on social media that while in Brussels, he would also hold discussions with Michel and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the EU budget and Poland’s post-pandemic national recovery plan.
Established in 2002, the African Union brings together all of the continent’s countries. Based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, it aims to promote democratic solutions and the political and economic integration of Africa, as well as helping combat poverty and corruption, and working for the protection of human rights, PAP reported.
The previous, fifth EU-AU summit took place in November 2017 in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP