Brussels, 21/01/2011 (Agence Europe) - Diplomacy, security and development are the main strands of the European strategy for the Sahel region being prepared by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton in close cooperation with the European Commission. The strategy will meet the request of the EU's Foreign Affairs Council of October 2010, concerned at the increase in crime and terrorism by the group 'Al Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb' (AQMI) in the Sahel-Sahara strip, including the recent assassination of two young French people kidnapped in Niger recently. The strategy will be discussed by the Council of Ministers on 31 January and 21 February.
Speaking on 19 January 2011 at the European Parliament, Catherine Ashton said the new strategy needed to be 'comprehensive and holistic' and necessarily multifaceted in order to respond to the complexity of problems in the Sahel. It will include both a political and a diplomatic dimension to facilitate dialogue among Sahel countries that still distrust each other. The EU will encourage regional initiatives to jointly counter security threats and boost security dialogue in the Sahel with countries of North Africa and regional African organisations. On security, Sahel countries will need help in boosting the capacity of the army, politics, justice and border control of each country. In the longer-term, the EU will contribute to the development of Sahel countries to help them increase their ability to provide social services and development to local people. Stemming and preventing radicalisation will be the fourth arm of the EU strategy, supporting action carried out by the countries themselves and legitimate non-state players to combat the scourge, she explained.
The over-arching nature of the Sahel strategy will go down well with the chair of the EP's Security and Defence Subcommittee, Arnaud Danjean, (EPP, France) who says that there are few other areas so close to Europe and of so great a threat to EU security where the EU can and must put into practice the global approach promised by the Lisbon Treaty that led to the setting up of the new EU diplomatic corps. (A.N. trans fl)