![]() ![]() In response to Tunisia’s no-show, a European Commission spokesperson said on Wednesday that “with Tunisia, in any case, we continue working under the MoU”, referring to the memorandum of understanding signed in July. Tunisia was among the North African countries not represented in the forum, following a spat over a cooperation agreement that has seen Tunisia wire back €60 million in EU funds and prohibit the entry of EU officials into its territory. Eighteen of the EU’s member states are also part of China’s initiative.Ĭountries including Armenia, Namibia, Mauritania and Senegal were represented in the Global Gateway forum by heads of state, while Albania, Bangladesh, Egypt, Georgia and Morocco were among the countries represented by their prime ministers.īut EU countries failed to match in diplomatic weight, with Germany sending its climate secretary and France its development secretary. Last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Taliban representatives to celebrate his Belt and Road Initiative, which at $1 trillion (€900 billion) triples the budget of the EU’s plan.Ĭritics say Beijing is pursuing a policy of 'debt-trap diplomacy', making developing countries shoulder unsustainable debt levels and increasing their strategic reliance on China. The bloc aims to offer an alternative to Beijing’s global 'Belt and Road' investment programme, vowing to channel quality investments without undermining countries' sovereignty. Global Gateway earmarks up to €300 billion to support projects spanning critical raw minerals, green energy and transport corridors, in a bid to boost the EU’s trade and investments across the globe. “No country should be faced with a situation in which the only option to finance its essential infrastructure is to sell its future,” she added. ![]() “Global Gateway is about giving countries a choice, and a better choice,” von der Leyen said, adding that investment options often come at a “high price” for the environment, workers’ rights and sovereignty. The new EU initiatives include agreements on critical raw materials with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia and on green hydrogen with Namibia, as well as cooperation on clean energy with Bangladesh and Vietnam.Įuropean Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen hosted over 40 leaders and ministers of EU partner countries in Brussels on Wednesday for the first in the two days of the summit, where she pitched the EU as a "better choice" for financing and building clean infrastructure. ![]()
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