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The Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, said today that the preparatory mission of support from the European Union (EU) to Mozambique, which he will lead, will take place “at the end of this month.”
“We are preparing the mission to Mozambique at a technical level, between the two diplomatic missions, the diplomacy of the European Union and the diplomacy of Mozambique and we anticipate that this political mission could occur at the end of this month,” said Santos Silva.
The minister spoke at a joint press conference with his Cypriot counterpart, Nikos Christodoulides, after a working meeting in Lisbon.
The Portuguese minister is tasked with leading the EU mission after the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, asked Santos Silva in December to travel to Mozambique as his envoy to discuss the situation in Cabo Delgado with local authorities. . stage of armed violence attributed to Islamic extremist groups.
Augusto Santos Silva felt “honored” with the appointment to lead the mission on behalf of Josep Borrell, considering that he will contribute “to make the response of the European Union in support of Mozambique as quick and efficient as possible.”
The election of Santos Silva occurs at a time when Portugal assumed the presidency of the Council of the EU, on January 1, and which runs until June 30, 2021.
Armed violence in Cabo Delgado, where the largest private multinational investment in Africa is being developed, for the exploitation of natural gas, is causing a humanitarian crisis with more than two thousand deaths and 560 thousand displaced, without housing or food, concentrating mainly on the provincial capital, Pemba.
Some of the raids have been claimed by the Islamic State ‘jihadist’ group since 2019.
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