First Independent Mena Newspaper
Algeria’s disillusioned diplomacy is apparently resorting to fake news claiming that the SADR separatist entity will be invited to the Africa-EU summit. As it endures setbacks one after the other in its ideologically anachronistic foreign policy, Algeria indulges in terminology games claiming that the African Union and the EU are negotiation to change the appellation […]
Spanish interior minister Juan Ignacio Zoido urged the EU to support Morocco’s “considerable” efforts to fight illegal immigration. “The EU should lend more support to African partners, such as Morocco, in their colossal efforts” in countering illegal immigration, said the Spanish official at a meeting of the EU’s justice and domestic affairs council. Zoido, whose […]
Libyan Prime Minister Faiez Serraj, head of the UN-backed unity government in Tripoli, called for help from the EU to stem the flow of migrants, warning that some illegal migrants may pose a terrorist threat when they reach Europe. He warned that would-be terrorists were among the tens of thousands of people able to pass […]
Rape, torture and slave labor are among the horrendous daily realities for people stuck in Libya in their desperate attempt to escape war, persecution and poverty in African countries, and reach Europe. The dark picture was described in a new report compiled by Oxfam and Italian partners, MEDU and Borderline Sicilia, which called on Italy […]
The 36th Turkey-EU Joint Consultative Committee kicked-off in Brussels on Tuesday with Ankara pressing for a full membership to the European body despite EU member states’ harsh criticism of its human rights record and political openness. Turkey’s European Union Affairs Minister Omer Celik urged the EU to “support Turkey during this difficult period in the […]
Spanish Interior Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido underscored Morocco’s key role in promoting the European Union’s counterterrorism efforts, saying that the Kingdom is Spain’s “best partner” in addressing the global scourge of jihadism. The Spanish minister, who made the statement at an address to a conference in Madrid themed: “European Union Challenges: Jihadist Terrorism”, stressed that […]
The EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Moghereni, reiterated her support for Morocco’s return to its African institutional family, underscoring the importance of the EU’s partnership with both Morocco and the African Union. “With Morocco’s return, the African Union’s family reunites,” said Moghereni who was answering a question by a member of the European Parliament. In […]
As issues relating to Russian influence in the EU, US and the Middle East are in the limelight, Russia continues to quietly make inroads in North Africa where it has been gaining a foothold in Libya and boosting its military exports to Algeria and Egypt while strengthening economic ties with Morocco and Tunisia, said the […]
European Diplomats are seeking Russia’s help to use its clout over Libya’s strongman General Haftar, who command the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army (LNA), to broker a deal that will bring rival Libyan factions under the civilian command of the UN-backed government of national accord (GNA), set up in December 2015. The European lead nation on […]
The EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa last week adopted a €37 million package to increase protection of migrants and to strengthen effective migration management in North Africa. The package will specifically address migration challenges in Libya, Tunisia and Morocco, the EU said in a press release. Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and […]