If Europe Wants to Remain Relevant in Africa, It Has to Show Up

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell speaks during a press conference at an EU Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on October 12, 2020. JEAN-CHRISTOPHE VERHAEGEN / POOL / AFP

The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, declared this week that 2021 is going to be “the Africa year for the European Union!” 

Yes, this is the same Josep Borrell who back in March unveiled was what supposedly a “comprehensive strategy” for the EU in Africa that he pointedly described as a “shared partnership,” musing aloud “I don’t know if that’s China’s point of view.”

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by Eric Olander

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