On the morning of Tuesday 14 January, the President of the European Council, António Costa, met the Portuguese diplomat João Cravinho, recently appointed EU Special Representative for the Sahel region (see EUROPE 13523/29).
Following his inauguration, the President is stepping up consultations with key players in order to “better understand” the issues specific to each region of the world, his office told Agence Europe, without giving any further details.
Mr Cravinho was appointed with the challenge of restoring the EU’s influence in a region destabilised in recent years by the activity of terrorist groups, the resurgence of coups d’état and the growing presence of Russian mercenaries.
In 2024, the EU ended its military and civilian missions in Niger (see EUROPE 13454/24) and Mali (see EUROPE 13340/24), as the former head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, lamented the “major setback” to the EU’s foreign policy in the region (see EUROPE 13415/21).
However, new EU budget support was granted last December to Mauritania, which remains unaffected by the spiral of violence affecting its neighbours (see EUROPE 13549/24). (Original version in French by Bernard Denuit)