European Union receives Most Valued Partner Award for Governance, Peace and Security in Africa
Guided by Agenda 2063 and the AU-EU Joint Vision, the EU has been complementing the AU’s efforts towards ensuring a peaceful, secure and prosperous Africa. Over the years, the EU has held a privileged strategic position in the AU’s peace and security architecture. It remains a key partner that has actively helped to build the institution’s core principles on peace and security. In 2018, the AU and the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding, to strengthen joint efforts on conflict prevention, mediation and crisis response, linking security with development, governance and humanitarian action. Recently, the AU-EU distinct relationship was reaffirmed at the 7th AU-EU Summit, held in Luanda in November 2025, where emphasis was placed on African ownership across peace and security issues. EU’s role as facilitator of AU-led action positions has been delivered in a manner that no other partner -bilateral or multilateral - has matched to date.
The gesture of handing this unique Award serves to demonstrate AU PAPS’s appreciation to the EU for its sustained support to AU-led peacekeeping operations as well as for its laudable contributions to strengthening security and governance institutions that provide a solid foundation for the realization of the AU’s aspiration for a peaceful, stable and prosperous continent.
AU PAPS Commissioner, Ambassador Bankole Adeoye, highlighted that “the enduring partnership between the African Union and the European Union has provided impetus to addressing the challenges of peace, security and governance on the continent. Our mutually respectful relation is further demonstrated by the EU’s alignment of its support to AU priorities”.
Receiving the award on behalf of the EU, Ambassador Javier Niño Pérez, Head of the EU Delegation to the AU, emphasised how: "the EU is honoured to receive this Award as the Most Valued Partner by the AU, recognising the work of so many EU colleagues supporting African-led peace and governance efforts. It reflects our deeply grounded partnership. The real reward is to witness the results on the ground, when both Africans and Europeans can enjoy safe, free and prosperous societies. More than ever, the current global geopolitical context requires that this unique Africa-EU partnership continues to thrive."
The AU-EU partnership on peace and security stands as a one-of-a-kind, reliable and long-term collaboration in promoting African stability in a multidimensional approach and the only one with a regular dialogue, with the last meeting between the EU Political and Security Committee (EU PSC) and the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (AU PSC) taking place on October 2025. This partnership is grounded on the principle that lasting peace demands inclusion, actively engaging women and youth in peacebuilding. From conflict prevention and management, fighting transnational organized crime, counterterrorism, cyber-resilience and hybrid threats to addressing the climate-security nexus, the partnership adapts to modern challenges, also strengthening cooperation with the Regional Economic Communities, while upholding International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.
EU collaboration has been instrumental to empower and to contribute to AU-led Peace Support Operations (PSOs) and to reinforce counterterrorism and violent extremism prevention. Currently, the EU supports 12 CSDP missions, with a substantial part of the European Peace Facility funding directed towards Africa. The EU has deployed over 2,000 European peace and security personnel across the continent and invested more than 1.5 billion euros.
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