BRUSSELS/GABORONE — The search is still on to understand why a meeting of African Union and European Union leaders was postponed at the last minute this week, ending what was supposed to be a year of rejuvenated relations on a sour note.
In October, European Council President Charles Michel announced the Dec. 9 exchange as “a strategic meeting with African leaders in order to deepen, but also to renew the partnership with Africa.”
An agenda, published online by the EU and since taken down, included the fight against COVID-19, long-term recovery efforts, debt relief, and the need to build momentum for the sixth EU-AU summit that had to be pushed to next year due to the pandemic.