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Tag: EU in Africa

  • No cease-fire while Ukraine is on the offensive, Putin says

    No cease-fire while Ukraine is on the offensive, Putin says

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    Vladimir Putin said he does not reject the idea of peace talks over Ukraine, but the Russian president added that there could be no cease-fire while Ukrainian forces are “on the offensive.”

    Speaking after meeting with African leaders in St. Petersburg, Putin told a press conference that African and Chinese peace initiatives could serve as a basis for ending the war in Ukraine, but are “impossible to implement” at the moment.

    “The Ukrainian army is on the offensive, they are attacking, they are implementing a large-scale strategic offensive operation,” Putin said, according to media reports. “We cannot cease fire when we are under attack,” he said.

    “We did not reject them,” Putin said, referring to the peace initiatives. “In order for this process to begin, there needs to be agreement on both sides,” the Russian leader said of the possibility of peace talks.

    African leaders meeting with Putin in St. Petersburg last week issued a direct appeal for Moscow to end the war in Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February 2022.

    “This war must end. And it can only end on the basis of justice and reason,” Moussa Faki Mahamat, foreign minister of Chad and current African Union Commission chairman, told Putin at the Russia-Africa summit.

    Congolese President Denis Sassou Nguesso said an African peace plan “deserves the closest attention.”

    “It mustn’t be underestimated,” Nguesso said. “We once again urgently call for the restoration of peace in Europe.”

    Senegal’s President Macky Sall also called for “a de-escalation to help create calm,” while South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said he hoped that “constructive engagement and negotiation” could end the conflict.

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    Varg Folkman

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  • Romania recalls ambassador to Kenya after racist monkey slur

    Romania recalls ambassador to Kenya after racist monkey slur

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    Romania is recalling its ambassador to Kenya after the diplomat allegedly made a comment equating Africans to monkeys at a meeting in Nairobi.

    “Any racist behavior or comments are absolutely unacceptable,” the Romanian Foreign Ministry in Bucharest said in a statement Saturday. The ministry has “initiated the procedure of recalling” Ambassador Dragos Viorel Tigau from his post in Kenya, according to the statement.

    The ministry “deeply regrets this situation, apologizes to all those affected and strongly rejects and condemns any behavior and any attitude incompatible with mutual respect,” the statement reads further.

    The move came in reaction to allegations that Tigau said “the African group has joined us” after a black monkey appeared at the window of the conference room ahead of a meeting. The incident took place at a UN building in the Kenyan capital on April 26.

    The Romanian Foreign Ministry said it had only been informed of the incident last week and Tigau was recalled as soon as the government found out. The ambassador has apologized after the incident, including in writing, according to the ministry.

    Kenyan diplomat Macharia Kamau said in a tweet that the remarks “appalled and disgusted” him. “This intolerable and unacceptable,” he added.

    The Romanian government “hopes that the incident will not affect the relationship with the countries of the African continent,” the Foreign Ministry said in its statement.

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    Wilhelmine Preussen

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  • Western governments evacuate more citizens from Sudan as situation deteriorates

    Western governments evacuate more citizens from Sudan as situation deteriorates

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    The U.K conducted its last evacuation flight from Sudan on Saturday, as the U.S. and France also brought groups of foreign nationals out of the conflict-torn African country. 

    The moves come amid a deteriorating security situation in Sudan, as fighting continues between the Sudanese Armed Forces and its rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. 

    The British government decided to end evacuation flights “because of a decline in demand by British nationals, and because the situation on ground continues to remain volatile,” the U.K. Foreign Office said in a statement. 

    “Focus will now turn to providing consular support to British nationals in Port Sudan and in neighboring countries in the region,” it said, noting that more than 1,888 people were evacuated on 21 flights during the operation. 

    A French plane arrived in Chad on Friday carrying staff from the United Nations and international humanitarian non-profit organizations. France has evacuated over a thousand people from Sudan since the outbreak of hostilities. 

    The U.S. State Department said on Saturday that a convoy of U.S. citizens, locally-employed staff and citizens of partner countries arrived in Port Sudan and that it is assisting those eligible to travel onward to Saudi Arabia. 

    “Intensive negotiations by the United States with the support of our regional and international partners enabled the security conditions that have allowed the departure of thousands of foreign and U.S. citizens,” the State Department said. 

    “We continue,” it added, “to call on the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to end the fighting that is endangering civilians.” 

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    Lili Bayer

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