African, EU, and UN leaders united to restore peace in the Central African Republic

In the margins of the EU-Africa summit, Herman Van Rompuy, UN SG Ban Ki-moon and several African and European leaders attended a special high-level meeting on the Central African Republic.

Co-organised and co-chaired by the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, the French President François Hollande and President Abdel Aziz of Mauritania, the current holder of the African Union Presidency, the meeting aimed to demonstrate the strong commitment of the different international organisations to cooperate and coordinate their efforts on a solution to the crisis.

The Head of State of the transition in the Central African Republic, Catherine Samba-Panza, attended the meeting together with the UN SG Ban Ki-moon. She received the support of the different delegations to restart the activities of the administration of the Republic and pursue the efforts undertaken to restore peace, security and re-establish stability.

Attendees welcomed the launch of EUFOR RCA, an EU military operation to contribute, with the other international missions active in the countries, to a secure environment in the Central African Republic. They also welcomed the on-going discussions at the United Nations Security Council for the establishment of a UN peacekeeping operation.

Leaders at the meeting also confirmed their financial engagement in terms of humanitarian and development aid, to assist the people of the Central African Republic and refugees in neighbouring countries.

Press Release - EU military operation in the Central African Republic
Council conclusions on the Central African Republic - 17 March 2014
Factsheet on EUFOR RCA