Reality or illusion? The re-launch of cooperation between Africa and Europe is proving less easy than announced in the Joint Statement adopted at the end of the summit in early April. This final document presupposes that the conflicts between African countries are for the mostpart overcome and that the abuse and cruelty of European colonialism is of course not forgotten, but put to one side in order to leave room for new forms of cooperation. The real evolution is very different - because conflicts between African countries, and also internal conflicts, continue and often the EU is asked for military intervention or additional funding. The direct cooperation described in the Joint Statement of 3 April defines a shared strategy for 2014-2017, which includes doubling European funding for peace in Africa and extending the EU's current aid: €20 billion per year, which makes Europe (the EU and member states) the top provider of aid to Africa (see EUROPE 11053). This commitment will be respected. Yet the start of it all is not encouraging - even if there are plenty of positive developments. We seem to be going in the opposite direction in several cases - both for the “end of conflicts in Africa” aspect, and for the new form of cooperation that should marginalise the colonial past. Europe is not asking for its old responsibilities to be forgotten but, on the ground, these should be replaced with political equality and cooperation between the two continents, being founded on three bases: economic development; peace and security; and human development.
Failed start on Rwanda. The first spectacular event that is hardly compatible with the jointly undertaken programme can be found in the controversial and conflictual reminder of the tragedy that drenched Rwanda in blood 20 years ago. On 6 April, the day before the commemorative ceremony in Kigali of the genocide that resulted in the death of 800,000 men, women and children, Catherine Ashton - on behalf of the EU - defined this tragedy as a collective failure involving a common duty of remembrance (see EUROPE 11055).
The ceremony then took place without a single member of the French government because Rwanda's President Kagame had publicly accused France of having taken part in “the very execution of the genocide”. It is not in the least my intention to discuss the responsibilities of the 1994 tragedy, but today's objective should be clear: to avoid protests that damage the redesigned Euro-African cooperation and the EU's support for development in Africa. The two European countries involved on the ground 20 years ago - France and Belgium - later analysed the events. In particular, the Belgian Senate created a committee of inquiry, which in 1997 recognised the political and military responsibility of Belgium.
The speech made by the Rwandan president on 7 April, in the presence of several European ministers, in fact overstepped the 1994 genocide (the physical perpetrators of which were African) and underlined that its historical roots were in colonialism, based on a system of ideas that essentially comes back to affirming that the local people are less than human and deserve to be exterminated. Belgium reacted calmly. The French reaction was much stronger.
Why do I return to these events from the beginning of the month? Because the situation on the ground is still very confused, with citizens judged arbitrarily and accused of threatening the security of the state or with opposition parties in exile.
Respecting Africa. Some situations elsewhere are still more dramatic. Nigeria is facing a real conflict between its army and the Muslim rebels. In the Central African Republic, religious fighting has taken on dramatic proportions - to the point of the UN deciding to send UN troops and police. And I haven't mentioned Mali. Africa is also a victim, for example, of the sickening trafficking of counterfeit drugs coming either from the Middle East or from the Arabian peninsula - or sometimes made in Africa itself (see EUROPE 11055).
Europe does not have any lessons to give because it set off the two world wars of the 20th Century. It has paid for this dearly and created its European Union to make it impossible to repeat similar internal catastrophes. Africa should move in the same direction - in accordance with its specific characters and cultures, of course. On its side, Europe - whatever certain demagogues say (I'll come back to this) is not in a position to welcome an inordinate number of illegal immigrants, or to provide unlimited funding. The spirit and principles of the Euro-African Joint Statement of 3 April must be respected - otherwise it's failure for everyone.
(FR)