Pavla Danisova, Jan Pospisil, Kholood Khair & Thomas Vieregge: GEOPOLITICS AT THE HORN OF AFRICA – WHAT IMPLICATIONS FOR EUROPE?

Irene Horejs in conversation with Pavla Danisova, Jan Pospisil, Kholood Khair and Thomas Vieregge

GEOPOLITICS AT THE HORN OF AFRICA – WHAT IMPLICATIONS FOR EUROPE?

The Wider Horn of Africa comprises the multiethnic states of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya and Uganda, holds significant strategic importance for the European Union due to its geostrategic location on the Red Sea, ongoing security challenges and their impact on migration issues and on European economies.

The ongoing conflicts in Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia/Eritrea destabilize the whole region and impact strongly also on Middle East and North African countries. These conflicts are fueled by external forces that support the different warring parties and their geopolitical dimension attracts global powers. While the influence of traditional powers (US and UK) is waning, China, Russia, and “emerging powers” like Turkey and the Gulf States have increased their engagement in the region.

For Europe, the instability in the Horn of Africa presents urgent challenges, primarily related to trade, energy security, migration, the security of maritime routes and potential spillover effects in neighboring countries like Egypt. The most recent moves of President Trump to drastically cut support to UN bodies and to dismantle USAID will further exacerbate the humanitarian and displacement crisis, foster instability and weaken Western voice.

What are the interests of Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates, Russia, China, Turkey in the region? What is the impact of US President Trump´s recent policy moves ? What is the EU’s strategy, what can and should the EU do to secure EU interest in the region ?

Welcome:

Georg Lennkh, Austrian Special Envoy for Africa, Member of the Board, Kreisky Forum

Jan Pospisil, Associate Professor at the Centre for Peace and Security at Coventry University and co-investigator in the Peace and Conflict Resolution Evidence Platform, University of Edinburgh

Pavla Danisova, Head of Cabinet of the EU Special Representative for the Horn of Africa (online)Kholood Khair, founder and director of Confluence Advisory, a ‚think and do tank‘ founded in Khartoum, that works on three priority policy areas: peace and security, economy, and governance;(online)

Thomas Vieregge Foreign desk (former Correspondent to Germany and the US), Die Presse

Moderation:Irene Horejs, former EU Ambassador to Niger and Mali