HCCP VISION FOR EUROPE

Making EU-Africa Relations Better- One Step at a time is one of our prime “raison-d’être”.

Deep and abiding friendship with Europe on mutually defined strategic interests
a) Africa is ready for a fresh start that needs a thorough, unapologetic review of past misdeeds, right the wrongs, and set a bright new future with Europe.
b) Europe, for its part, needs Friends as ever in the emerging competitive and contentious geopolitical landscape. The crisis in Ukraine has shed new light on its dependency on Russian gas and oil and unveiled a layer cake of vulnerabilities in a variety of strategic sectors.
b) The looming energy crunch as the new cold war sinks in warrants the diversification of its energy sources. The strengthening of the new partnership between Africa and Europe is of paramount strategic relevance for both continents.

C) However, less than one week following the reaffirmation of the new EU-Africa partnership in Brussels on 18 February 2022, its longevity, solidity, and foundational underpinnings were already being tested and shaken by the war in Ukraine. Indeed, the appalling treatment of African immigrants fleeing war, horrifying, brutal scenes of blatant racism in Ukraine, Poland, and a host of Eastern European countries and the differential treatment applied to African refugees have disgusted Africans of all walks of life.

The egregious violations of fundamental laws of humanity have been met by a lackadaisical reaction of European leaders, including Charles Michel (President of the Council of the European Union), who has resorted to flimsy excuses and tone-deaf alibis, as well as Ursula Von Der Leyen (President of the EU Commission), who is openly vowing to punish sovereign African nations for their votes at the UN General Assembly. This most bizarre post-agreement expression of support would have to be clarified for a serene implementation of the strategic objectives defined by the new partnership.

Footnote
(The head of the World; Health Organization has slammed the global community for its focus on the war in Ukraine, arguing that crises elsewhere, including in his home country of Ethiopia, are not being given equal consideration, possibly because those suffering are not white. On 13 April 2022, In a virtual press briefing from Geneva, WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus questioned “if the world gives equal attention to Black and white lives,” given that the ongoing emergencies in Ethiopia, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Syria have garnered only a “fraction” of the global concern for Ukraine.)