Djiboutian authorities hosted the European Union's Political and Security Committee in Djibouti on 4 November for talks on security and defence, Red Sea shipping and European naval missions. Outcome reports by La Nation and Dawan Africa were published on 5 November.
Djibouti's Institute of Diplomatic Studies hosted a working meeting on Wednesday 4 November between Djiboutian authorities and a delegation of the European Union's Political and Security Committee (PSC/COPS), La Nation and Dawan Africa reported on 5 November. The meeting was co-chaired by Foreign Minister Abdoulkader Houssein Omar, who is also government spokesman, and Interior Minister Omar Abdi Saïd, who is also acting defence minister. The EU side was led by PSC chair Ambassador Lene Mandel-Vensild.
Talks focused on the security and defence partnership, peace and stability in the region, and maritime security in the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb. Djibouti's ambassador to the EU, Aden Mohamed Dileïta, opened the session. La Nation said the Djiboutian side underlined the contribution of the European naval missions EUNAVFOR ASPIDES and ATALANTA to regional maritime security. Omar Abdi Saïd stressed Djibouti's position at the junction of the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, and called for deeper cooperation on training, operational capacity, intelligence-sharing and maritime surveillance.
EPF and refugees
Abdoulkader Houssein Omar said the strategic partnership rested on mutual trust and a shared commitment to regional peace. PSC ambassadors, according to La Nation, recognised Djibouti's strategic Red Sea role and cited programmes financed under the European Peace Facility as concrete cooperation. Humanitarian and migration challenges, including Yemeni refugees hosted by Djibouti, also featured.
Dawan described the exchange as in-depth and said both sides reaffirmed the importance of continued cooperation as Red Sea insecurity affects global trade. No new treaty, funding envelope or timetable was announced in the published readouts. A separate planned visit to Djibouti by China's African affairs envoy, Liu Xianfa, had not been reported as having taken place at the time of writing.
Image: The port of Djibouti City on the Gulf of Aden. CharlesFred, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.