Day: February 21, 2022

Luanda – Angola will attend the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework agreement for the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the region, scheduled for Tuesday in Kinshasa, DR Congo.

The Tuesday event, expected to gathers heads of diplomacy from member countries, including Angola, is a preparatory meeting for the Heads of State and Government that will take place on February 24.

Signed in February 2013 in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), the mechanism comprises Angola, Burundi, Kenya, Central African Republic (CAR), Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.

In the wake of the ministers’ session, the capital of DR Congo hosted a two-day Meeting of the Technical Support Committee of the Regional Supervisory Mechanism of the Framework Agreement, the Angolan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release.

The note states that the Technical Committee meeting adopted the documents to be submitted to the ministerial session that will prepare the 10th High Level Meeting of the Regional Oversight Mechanism (ROM) of the Framework Agreement by the Heads of State and Government of the signatory countries.

The participants in the Technical Meeting approved the Ministerial and High-Level programmes, as well as the second Report on the state of Implementation of the Framework Agreement.

The meeting was chaired by the assistant of United Nations’ secretary general and special envoy of UN Secretary general for Great lakes region, Huang Xia.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Portuguese ambassador to Angola Pedro Pessoa e Costa said on Monday that the suspension of tourist visas for his country and other European Union states was a decision of the Schengen area.

“Tourist visas are not suspended by Portugal but by the Schengen area, such is the situation”, the diplomat explained to the press, after a farewell meeting with the Angolan President, João Lourenço.

Ambassador Pedro Pessoa e Costa, who is at the end of his mission, however, reassured the granting of visas to Angolan citizens who travel to Portugal on medical treatment, studies, work or visits their family members.

In such cases, the issue of difficulty in obtaining visas is nothing but a myth of the alleged intermediaries, said the diplomat, who left Luanda on Monday, after two years of mission in Angola.

As for relations between Angola and Portugal, he said he hoped to have improved them, “thanks to the work that exists between the two countries”.

The ambassador considered that this is a relationship that covers all areas of cooperation and also concerns the citizens of the two countries.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

The EU will establish a military training mission in Ukraine, the country’s foreign minister said on Monday, in a broadly symbolic move as part of the bloc’s efforts to support Kyiv in the face of a feared invasion by Russia.

The mission, which has been under discussion for months, will employ advisers to revamp Ukraine’s military education system, which uses Soviet-era methods.

“We reached an agreement with the EU in principle that the EU will roll out an advisory training military mission in Ukraine,” Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said after a meeting in Brussels with foreign ministers from EU countries. “The details, the main parameters and the timeline of this rollout are still to be discussed, but it is critical we open this new page of co-operation.”

Kuleba said the best way for the EU to assist Ukraine in its conflict with Moscow was to “send a clear signal to Russia that Ukraine is part of us”, he added.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angolan head of State João Lourenço Monday was encouraged to carry on his effort focused on the fight against corruption and national reconciliation, described as crucial for the country’s development.

This was during a separate meetings with church leaders from the Seventh-day Adventist, Kimbanguista and Evangelical Congregational churches held in Luanda.

Speaking to the press at the end of the meeting, the Senior pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Northeast Region, Teixeira Mateus Vinte, encouraged the Statesman to continue his effort of combat corruption.

He is of the view that anti-graft fight is a commitment of all citizens, and the Christians in particular.

“Corruption is theft and its practice breaches God law, jeopardises the institutions and the public purse”, he noted, adding that “those engaged in doing good deeds live in peace with themselves and with society.

In turn, Rev. André Combovi Eurico of the Evangelical Congregational Church in Angola, said he expressed his recognition for the work in progress, especially in the field of national reconciliation, which favours the country’s development.

He said that it was good to learn from the President himself of his interest in carrying on his effort to strengthen peace at this time the country prepares for the general election.

André Eurico highlighted the investment in infrastructure in the southern country, particularly in Cunene, aimed to fight against drought and diversification of agricultural production in that region.

The leader of the Kimbangist Church, Paul Kssolelekele, said he had conveyed a word of encouragement to the President of the Republic and reiterated the partnership with the State in the fields of health and education.

Source: Angola Press News Agency