G5 Sahel: virtual summit on April 28

摘要

The president of the European Council will discuss EU support for the regional body with the heads of its five member states via videoconference on April 28. The Sahel is gradually regaining its place on Brussels' international agenda, which has been turned upside down in recent weeks by the coronavirus pandemic. European Council President Charles Michel is due to hold talks via videoconference on April 28 with the heads the G5 Sahel member states - Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will also attend the meeting, which will focus on how the EU will support the Sahelian alliance. Michel is expected to provide further details about the €138m the EU announced last July it would give to the G5 Sahel. The sum follows the €100m disbursed in early 2018. As with the previous grant, most of the money will be managed by Expertise France, a public international technical assistance agency, which be tasked with equipping the group's counterterrorism task force.