The High Representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell, has rejected on Monday that relations between the European bloc and Africa have deteriorated because of the war in Ukraine, which has shown differences between Europeans and Africans, although he acknowledged that the conflict has generated new problems that the EU must tackle.
«Our relations are not getting worse. The problem is that, since last year, new challenges have appeared,» said the head of diplomacy in statements prior to the meeting of European Cooperation officials.
Borrell conceded that the conflict in Ukraine has generated new problems such as the food and energy crisis, which are especially felt in African countries, so the EU must take a step forward to tackle these problems.
«Nobody was thinking last year about a food or energy crisis in Africa. It’s not about our relationship with Africa, it’s about the fact that the war in Ukraine has created new problems, acute problems. And this requires a strong commitment on our part,» he said.
In this sense, the former Spanish minister defended that the EU is working to prevent European support to Africa from being diminished by the consequences of the war in Ukraine and that «not a single euro» allocated to Africa ends up being destined to the crisis in Eastern Europe.
Since the beginning of the war, the High Representative has shown his concern about what he considers a battle of narratives by Moscow on the African continent. In Brussels, they have insisted on pedagogy about the sanctions to make it clear to the African countries affected by the food crisis that it is not due to European measures and to help them before possible collateral effects.
In June, EU diplomacy sent letters to African countries and financial institutions to explain the functioning of the European sanctions against Russia and thus combat Russian disinformation campaigns. The EU wants to be «proactive» to ensure that the world understands the Ukraine crisis in the same way as Europe and joins European initiatives in the United Nations and other bodies.
Several member states, including Spain, have been warning that Russia «is finding a perfect field of extension» in Africa, also in the military field where either directly through its Army or through the private company Wagner has an important presence in countries such as Mali, Libya or Central African Republic.
