EU Commissioners Jozef Síkela and Magnus Brunner visited Senegal on 2 and 3 March for talks on deepening cooperation between the European Union and Senegal.
The trip took place as Brussels and Dakar negotiate a new Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership covering security, migration management and investment, including projects under the EU’s Global Gateway investment programme, the European Commission informed on Wednesday.
The delegation met Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, Foreign Affairs Minister Yassine Fall and other senior officials.
Talks focused on three areas: economic transformation through Global Gateway investments, peace, security and regional stability, and migration and mobility.
The Commission said discussions also covered cooperation against terrorist threats, organised crime, migrant smuggling and trafficking in human beings, against a backdrop of security challenges in the Sahel.
Patrol boats handed over under joint programme
During the visit, the commissioners attended a handover ceremony under the Joint Operational Programme II, chaired by Senegal’s Interior and Public Security Minister Mouhamadou Bamba Cissé.
New patrol boats and motorised vessels were handed over to the Senegalese National Police and Gendarmerie, alongside the inauguration of a Maritime Maintenance Centre.
Strengthened security cooperation in recent years, including reinforced maritime and border operations, contributed to a decrease of around 74% in irregular departures last year.
On the investment side, the EU has supported projects in Senegal using “blending” — a way of combining EU funds with other financing to back larger investments — with around €100 million in EU blending funding supporting projects worth approximately €1.3 billion.
Síkela also visited Senegal’s Regional Express Train (TER) site with Air and Land Transport Minister Yankhoba Diémé, and the EU, the French Development Agency and the Senegalese government will finance studies for an extension of Phase 3 of the TER.
