“All the objectives proposed for this summit were fulfilled”, declared Luís Amado, minister of state and foreign affairs and president of the Council of Ministers of the EU, in a meeting with journalists at the end of the first day of the EU-Africa Summit work sessions, and where the secretary of state for foreign affairs and cooperation, João Gomes Cravinho and the secretary of state for European affairs, Manuel Lobo Antunes were also present.

According to Luís Amado, these sessions were held in an environment of great cordiality and affection, in a scenario that is quite different from the one encountered during the I Summit that took place in Cairo. “It was possible to break the ice that lasted for quite a few years and stop talking in terms of colonisers and colonised people”. For the Portuguese minister of state and foreign affairs, from now on “a new dynamic in the relationship between Europe and Africa will start to emerge and this Summit is a very important turning point in the strategic relations between the two continents”.

Luís Amado also stressed the fact that it is now possible for Europe and Africa to look into the future and face together common challenges.

“The debates were held in a very constructive atmosphere and all the objectives proposed for this summit by the Portuguese presidency of the EU were reached”, added Luís Amado.

Concerning the situation in Darfur, the Portuguese minister of state and foreign affairs revealed that the General Affairs Council will analyse, next Monday in Brussels, the question of sending a European force to Chad, as a result of bilateral contacts that have been occurring to facilitate the development of this mission.