The European Union has reiterated its long-term commitment to peacebuilding, regional integration, and green economic development in South Sudan, outlining three major priorities that will guide its interventions in the country.
Speaking during the celebration of 25 years of the AU–EU partnership at the University of Juba on Monday, EU Ambassador to South Sudan Pelle Enarsson said the bloc’s focus is clear.
“We are here to help build peace through our support to the African Union, but also to engage on the original project,” he said. “We are here to help build new roads to make the region more integrated.”
The European diplomat also highlighted the importance of sustainable development in South Sudan, pointing out that the EU will help connect South Sudan to the rest of the region as part of the long-term peacebuilding and regional motivation.
According to Enarsson, the AU-EU 25-year partnership endorsed recently in a summit in Luanda, Angola, is rooted in Cooperation, not just Transactional Interests. In his remarks, Enarsson emphasized that the AU–EU relationship is built on shared values and mutual interest, not transactional deals.
“Compared to many other actors, there is another actor that is looking to transactional approaches,” he stated. “I think we are looking for cooperation and collective interest, and I think that is what signifies our partnership.”
Although the official AU–EU partnership is 25 years old, Enarsson reminded the audience that Europe’s engagement with Africa started much earlier.
“We have to remember that this partnership is not only 25 years old, but it’s also much, much older… European Commission services started with 18 offices around Africa in 1958 to support the development here,” he said.
The envoy added that the first AU–EU summit laid the foundation for a framework based on “equality, respect, alliance, and cooperation,” values which he said have continued to evolve.
The ambassador highlighted the significant roles the AU and EU have played together in global diplomacy.
Enarsson also noted that the EU is transitioning to the Global Gateway model, an approach focused on large-scale public-private partnerships.
“These are really public-private relationships to help investments into the development of economies in energy, in digital transition, in cooperation and education,” he stressed. “This marks a shift from donor–recipient aid models to a mutual relationship when the two develop together.”
Reflecting on the event’s theme, Enarsson said the partnership is grounded in a long-standing shared vision.
Quoting from the summit declaration, he said: “We reaffirm that our common future lies in closer cooperation and collective action for the mutual benefit of the peoples of Africa and Europe.”
He added that AU–EU cooperation has consistently aimed to foster “equality, respect, alliance, and cooperation.”
For her part, Ambassador Nonoya Agrey, who represented South Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, stressed the importance of cooperation with the European Union.
“I would like to really acknowledge the importance of multilateralism. I think the independence of South Sudan alone we can even use it as an example of the importance of multilateralism, because without the support of the international organizations and our international partners from the EU and the AU, South Sudan would not even be a country in 2011,” Nonoya Said.
According to her, when South Sudan joined the AU in 2011 after its independence, it realized significant changes and development.
“On behalf of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I want to acknowledge also our gratitude and appreciation to the EU and AU partnership,” she said. “You know, sustainable support for keeping peace in our country, and we really know how there’s a need for peace in our country. We are working hard to make sure that South Sudan has peace, and we are also developing.”