On the 7th of December, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen visited Addis Abeba, the capital of Ethiopia. It has been the first official visit outside Europe since von der Leyen took office earlier in December. The choice of Addis Ababa, a headquarter of the African Union, remains politically symbolic in light of the ongoing negotiation with the ACP group on post-2020 regional relations.
ZBN Analysis no. 13 (52) / 2019
14 December 2019
On the 7th of December, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen visited Addis Abeba, the capital of Ethiopia. It has been the first official visit outside Europe since von der Leyen took office earlier in December. The choice of Addis Ababa, a headquarter of the African Union, remains politically symbolic in light of the ongoing negotiation with the ACP group on post-2020 regional relations. Over the last decade, the relationship between European and African leaders proved to be stable but asymmetrical. This analysis provides a brief overview of recent activities in EU-Africa relations, pointing out the state of affairs of the newly appointed ‘geopolitical Commission’ of von der Leyen.
In the photo: Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission) meets Moussa Faki Mahamat (President of the Commission of the African Union) in Addis Ababa, December 2019
Credit: European Commission, Von der Leyen focuses on Unity and partnerships in her firt visit to Africa, Press Corner, 7 December 2019, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ac_19_6713 [accessed: 16 December 2019].