Honourable co-chair, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism

Honourable Ministers

Dear Colleagues Ambassadors and Representatives from the EU Member States

Representatives from the EU Naval Force – Somalia Operation ATALANTA

Members of the Seychelles’ administrations, institutions and bodies

Ladies and Gentlemen

Good morning

Bonzour. Mo bien content pou participe dans sa 9ème dialogue politique avec Sesel.

I wish to thank the Minister for Foreign Affairs (and Tourism) and his team as well as the whole Government of Seychelles for their warm welcome and the excellent preparatory work for this important moment of our cooperation as well as for your kind and always remarkable hospitality.

I am here today with the Ambassadors and representatives from 9 EU Member States, namely: Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Romania, Spain and Sweden as well as with a delegation of the EU Naval Force – Somalia Operation ATALANTA.

Today’s dialogue is the opportunity to reaffirm the strategic partnership between the European Union and the Republic of Seychelles and to discuss how we can further work together to overcome the many challenges that lie ahead, both in the region and in the wider global context.

In fact today we are facing a simultaneous triple crisis.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is keeping the world abreast and is impacting everyone directly or indirectly. Not only has it led more than 7 million of Ukrainian citizens to flee the combat zone and forced many to find refuge in neighbouring countries to save their lives and escape war crimes in occupied territories. But this war of aggression is having serious global repercussions on basic needs like food and energy.

Closer to us in Africa, several countries are facing conflicts that are taking a heavy toll on civilians from Sahel to the Horn of Africa down to Central and Eastern Africa.

At the same time, the COVID-19 crisis is not totally behind us. It is still burdening our economies and heavy indebtedness while maintaining our national health systems under pressure for more than 2 years now.

Recent extreme climatic events around the world from scarcity of water in Europe with multiple fires to heavy flooding in Pakistan again clearly confirm the major threat of climate change and dramatic biodiversity loss.

Those multiple challenges underline with strength that humanity is at risk and that we need more than ever a stronger multilateralism to reinforce cooperation in building and increasing our resilience to be able to tackle for current and future crises to come.

It is in this challenging and difficult context that we can all the more fully appreciate the value of the EU-Seychelles partnership. We share the same commitment to multilateralism as clearly stated by President Ramkalawan and President Michel in the UN General Assembly two weeks ago. We can also rely on a solid anchor: a strong attachment to universal fundamental values like democracy, rule of law, freedom and human dignity.

Ministers,

Ladies and gentlemen,

The EU-Seychelles partnership is clearly a strategic one. It has grown over the years and allows us to pursue a broad and fruitful cooperation in many key areas of common interest.

Allow me to highlight briefly five of them:

1. Let me start with Peace and security :

Seychelles and the EU are both committed to the respect for the Universal Charter, International Law and its Fundamental Principals. This is the very foundation of our partnership. We share the same concern over so many conflicts that are taking a heavy toll on civilians and on our economies. And we all share the same hope for the prompt return to normality. This is why we need to continue to join our efforts - both in the international and the regional contexts - to contribute to peace and security.

In this regard, ensuring that seas are safe and safety of navigation is essential. I can say without a doubt that the fight against piracy has been a success story of our cooperation for more than 14 years. But we know that we have to adapt constantly to growing instability and new threats like arms and drug trafficking. This is why EUNAVFOR has broadened its mandate to include those threats in addition to the fight against piracy. This is a priority for the EU as we are stepping up our strategic engagement with the Indo-Pacific region. Our consistent joint efforts are needed to respond to those new threats and contribute to maritime security and safety  within the region.

But new threats are not only at sea; they are also “online”. In recent years, we have witnessed the emergence of such new threats like cyber-attacks and disinformation that represent serious risks to democracy and the stability of our societies. Tackling such threats is a priority for the EU, but we cannot do it alone. We are willing to engage with our partner countries – including Seychelles to promote a more secure digital era.

2. Sustainable economic growth is a second key area of our cooperation :

The world economy faces multiple challenges that are putting governments and populations under huge stress. Allow me here to congratulate Seychelles on achieving a strong fiscal performance and for restoring macroeconomic balances despite a globally challenging context.

All along, the EU has remained a key business partner for Seychelles - the most important market for exports, the first provider of tourists and a reliable source of foreign investments. This is the result of our Economic Partnership Agreement and Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement but also of our joint efforts to boost competitiveness and promote economic diversification. We look forward to stepping up our partnership in trade, investment and fisheries, notably with the deepening of our Economic and Partnership Agreement.

We wish also to convey our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Seychelles authorities for successfully hosting the first BlueInvest event outside Europe – BlueInvest Africa, a concrete action in implementing the African Union-European Union vision for a renewed partnership. This event, which attracted over 600 participants onsite and online, has highlighted the champion role of Seychelles in this area. There are certainly new avenues of cooperation that we can explore with Seychelles in the Blue Economy.

We also welcome the constructive collaboration we have with Seychelles in promoting global tax good governance principles and fighting against money laundering - two areas that are increasingly important for the financial sector both locally and at global level. We look forward to continue working together in these sensitive and complex areas.

3. As a third area of common interest, let me address Health and resilience :

The international community, under the aegis of the UN and the WHO, has worked together to respond as efficiently as possible to the coronavirus crisis.

For the first time in history, economies were shut down and borders were closed thereby giving health priority over economic growth. Fortunately, international cooperation and solidarity have allowed, in record time, to produce new efficient vaccines and to ensure their gradual distribution around the world.

We congratulate Seychelles on successfully handling this unprecedented sanitary crisis. The high level of vaccination rate obtained in record times has allowed your country to reopen to tourists ahead of most of your competitors.

However, the pandemic is not over yet and other sanitary crises may occur in the future. Therefore, building resilience to be able to face any eventual future crisis is key. In this context, we advocate for a review and an update of the multilateral health framework to adapt to the changing environment. We are notably calling for Seychelles’ support for a new pandemic treaty and a substantial reform of the World Health Organisation (WHO) system. 

4. This brings me to the fourth key area of cooperation, Environment and Climate Change :

As we all know, there is no vaccine against climate change or against biodiversity loss. Recent extreme climatic events around the world confirm that we have to act urgently and collectively. Only a collective, immediate and decisive action will enable us to address those challenges.

The EU and Seychelles largely share a common vision as regards environment protection and the fight against climate change. In this context, we need to create strong alliances and secure strong commitments within international fora, notably in the forthcoming COP27 on Climate Change and COP15 on biodiversity. Your role as Chair of the African Island States Climate Change Commission (AISCCC) is in many aspects critical.

5. And to face all of the above challenges, we need in Europe and in Seychelles good governance and to defend everywhere and every moment our fundamental values :

Indeed, we both share a strong attachment to democratic values and respect for human rights as they provide the foundation for the sound functioning of our societies.

We are strongly engaged in this area with Seychelles in exchanging good practices and building capacity. We notably commend Seychelles on the significant achievements made recently in the fight against corruption. And we stand ready to work further with you in this area as well as on human rights issues for instance on gender equality.

Precisely, on this point, as mentioned by the co-chair, I will shortly hand over Seychelles very-first Gender Profile, which the EU has been pleased to assist Government in preparing.

We are also supporting the civil society as a key actor of an open and vibrant democracy. We have just announced last week new funding opportunities for civil society organisations engaged in climate action, gender equality and governance.

Concluding remarks:

I wish to convey, on behalf of all the EU Member States present and on my own behalf, our sincere thanks to you Minister and to your team in the ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tourism of the Republic of Seychelles for the careful planning and organisation of this important annual rendez-vous; and also for facilitating the presentation of the credentials of the newly appointed ambassadors.

I also wish to thank you, Honourable Minister Radegonde, for co-chairing this Political dialogue and thank all ministers and officials present here today.  This high-level participation bears testimony that we have so much in common and so much to discuss.

We share the same fundamental values: democracy, , freedom and human dignity, rule of law, human rights for all.

We both care for the environment, protection of biodiversity, protection of ocean, and fight against climate change.

We both care for peace and security in general and in this part of the Indian Ocean in particular.

We both care for building resilience in front of sanitary crisis and other crisis.

We both care for sustainable economic activities, from sustainable fisheries, blue economy to sustainable tourism.

We have worked together for decades and have achieved a lot. Our partnership today is strong and far-reaching. We have to face new challenges, but we have built the trust and the understanding that allow us to look with confidence into our common future.

Cochair, dear Sylvestre, I look forward to our dialogue today.

Thank you for your attention.