PORTUGUESE FOREIGN MINISTER TO DISCUSS TERRORISM

The Portuguese Foreign Ministry has announced that the Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, Augusto Santos Silva, will head a mission from the European Union to Mozambique between Tuesday and Thursday, following the Mozambican government’s request for cooperation faced with terrorism in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. A statement from the Ministry said that Santos Silva will represent Josep Borrell, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, “for high level political contacts with the Mozambican authorities”.

“This visit follows the request for strengthened cooperation that Mozambique addressed to the European Union last September, concerning the security situation in Cabo Delgado”, the statement added.  Responding to questions from the Portuguese news agency, Lusa, an EU spokesperson declared that the EU “is following closely the persistent and destructive armed violence in northern Mozambique, recognizing the serious humanitarian consequences, and the threat that it may spread across the region”.

“We are ready to support the Mozambican government”, the spokesperson said, “and we shall discuss the specific options in the forthcoming political dialogue, as well as in technical meetings. We are naturally ready to work closely with our African partners, and particularly with SADC (Southern African Development Community), in order to ensure a coherent and coordinated approach”. The spokesperson added that the Mozambican government and the EU “have opened a political dialogue, focusing on humanitarian questions, human rights, development and security in Cabo Delgado”.

“The Portuguese Foreign Minister, Augusto Santos Silva, has expressed his willingness to travel to Mozambique in the name of the High Representative, Josep Borrell, with the purpose of informing the Mozambican authorities that the EU is willing undertake detailed preparatory work on humanitarian, security and development measures that might be supported”, he said. The spokesperson added that the EU “is absolutely united in its desire to help Mozambique face the violent extremist attacks under way in Cabo Delgado”.