The Europeans want to donate more vaccine and hope that two factories will open in Africa this year.
It’s been five years since the heads of the African and European Unions met for a summit meeting. The long break was initially due to the fact that the pandemic made it impossible to meet in person, as the 27 European heads of state and government have been holding with 40 African counterparts in Brussels since Thursday. In the background, however, there is a noticeable malaise in the formulation of the relationship with the southern continental neighbor in Brussels and many state chancellories. On the one hand, it is hoped that the youthfulness of African societies can be diverted into economic and social investments of mutual benefit. On the other hand, it is precisely these young people in Africa who, with their hopes for a better life, are worrying many governments. What if they don’t want to develop their own countries with kind help from Europe, but come to us via the Mediterranean?
“Don’t even start your journey”
This view only sounds caricatured at first glance. If you listen to the speeches of the European heads of state and government before the start of the meeting, it becomes clear that migration to Europe is their main political topic in dealing with Africa – all other pledges of joint development of environmentally friendly forms of energy, modern communication networks and smart business start-ups In spite of. “The African continent needs our support for its own economic development and to ensure that there are good prospects for men, women and children there,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for example. His Austrian counterpart, Karl Nehammer, didn’t beat around the bush. It is important to develop concepts on an equal footing, “so that people no longer find the reasons for their flight in their countries”. And then to add: The deportation of legally rejected asylum seekers to their African home countries is also part of the summit. “There must be clearly structured forms of immigration into the European Union, where there are rules where you know how I can immigrate to the EU.” Addendum: “The best protection against illegal migration is to ensure that don’t even make people set off.”