Brussels, 03/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Belga agency reports from reliable sources that the President of the Council of the EU Louis Michel and the High Representative for CFSP Javier Solana will be visiting Central Africa on 12-17 September, where they will be meeting the Heads of State of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Congo-Brazzaville, Angola, Zimbabwe, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana and Gabon.
The EU recently welcomed the outcome of the Gaborone meeting as part of the preliminary dialogue with the Congo (see EUROPE of 31 August, p.2). At its July 2001 meeting, the General Affairs Council decided that the EU would play a greater role in the process of establishing peace in the DRC and in the African Great Lakes region generally (see EUROPE of 16/17 July, p.6).