S. Africa, EU pledge to enhance strategic partnership

South Africa and the European Union (EU) on Friday pledged to enhance their strategic partnership in pursuit of their mutually beneficial interests.

This emerged from the 13th SA-EU Ministerial Political Dialogue which took place in Pretoria between South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Mait Nkoana-Mashabane and the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini.

"This morning, we had extensive discussions on the Strategic Partnership, internal developments in the EU and in South Africa, peace and security on the continent, developments in Burundi, South Sudan and in Libya, amongst others as well as terrorism, migration and multilateral issues," Nkoana-Mashabane said after the dialogue.

She said both sides assessed the state of their cooperation, and have reaffirmed that the strategic partnership which is extensive, and covers many areas is working well in pursuit of our mutually beneficial interests.

In addition, they reviewed developments regarding the Middle-East peace process, and also expressed great concern at the deteriorating humanitarian situation and civilian casualties in Syria, according to Nkoana-Mashabane.

Mogherini said the EU and South Africa share a common vision for the sake of peace on the continent and the world.

The EU commended South Africa for its peace role in Burundi and South Sudan, Mogherini said.

Nkoana-Mashabane praised the EU for extensively supporting SA's national development priorities through the Multi Indicative Programme (MIP).

The MIP outlines three priority areas aligned with objectives of the SA's National Development Plan, namely, employment creation; education, training and innovation; and building a capable and developmental state.

The EU also contributes 1.5 billion rand (about 100 million U.S. dollars) to infrastructure development for domestic as well as regional programmes. Endit