EU delegation calls on President Ramkalawan |08 October 2021
he EU delegation in a souvenir photograph with President Ramkalawan and Minister Radegonde (Photo: Louis Toussaint)
The Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to Mauritius and Seychelles, Vincent Degert, yesterday headed a delegation of ambassadors and officials from EU states for a courtesy meeting with President Wavel Ramkalawan.
The meeting at State House was also attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism, Sylvestre Radegonde.
It was an opportunity for the EU delegation to inform President Ramkalawan of the intense discussions during the EU-Seychelles 8th Political Dialogue held earlier during the day with various local ministries at the Eden Bleu Hotel (see separate story below).
The EU-Seychelles’s common agenda and partnership were at the forefront during the dialogue, from fisheries to community projects to climate change.
“Climate change obviously had been high on the our agenda this morning and we have discussed extensively on how to protect the environment, how to fight climate change and what to do internationally speaking as we are on the brink of the Glasgow conference on climate change which is coming up in November,” explained Ambassador Degert following the meeting at State House.
“We really need to be serious and take strong actions against climate change. We want to speak with one voice with Seychelles and our other Africa partners so that we can really make an impact and have changes, to ensure that the world does not go beyond the 1.5 degree at 2030. If we get to 2 degrees or more we know what that means; flooding, bleaching of corals, acidification of the ocean which will impact livelihoods, particularly those in Seychelles.”
The EU and Seychelles further discussed financial governance and financial crime.
“I am very happy with the decision made two days ago by the finance ministers of Europe to take Seychelles off the Annex I what we call the blacklist. This is a good achievement and I want to congratulate Seychelles for this performance. That being said we have to continue to work in the same direction—fiscal issues is one part of the coin and the other side is fighting anti-money laundering issues and corruption,” stated Ambassador Degert.
The European bloc has provided experts, posted in government agencies and departments such at the Anti-Corruption Commission Seychelles (ACCS) and the Office of the Attorney General, to assist Seychelles bring about positive results.
“The other big dossier as usual has been fisheries as usual since it is the biggest agreement we have and was signed last year. We had a look at the implementation and we need to work together more closely on regional context because we know that the tuna resources are going down and there is a risk of overfishing and we need to take strong actions.”
“The other big issue we discussed this morning is maritime security, port security and I have been informing the president as well that we have renewed the EUNAVFOR Operation Atalanta mandate. We have fought piracy along with Seychelles for 10 years successfully and this has been very important to ensure freedom of navigation and security. We have not only extended the mandate but added two issues which are the fight against arm trafficking and fight against drugs to the mandate and we need to translate that to the legal finish. Meaning that if we capture some people, they will need to be brought before a court and we will need the help of the Seychelles authorities in this respect.”
In regards to the arrears owed to Seychellois seafarers by the EU, Mr Degert noted that he hopes this issue is finalised by the end of this year.
Elsie Pointe
