Message on Europe Day

No country can tackle global challenges alone. The European Union (EU) is forging strong, fair partnerships - from Africa to the Indo-Pacific - to address global challenges such as climate change, digital transformation, and the growing pressures on democracy and human rights. The European Union and its 27 Member States stand for defending the rules-based international order they helped to build over the years.

In today’s world, partnership is power. Europe chooses cooperation and partnership with a view to mutual benefits and increased resilience in all areas: from defence to energy, from critical raw materials to strategic technologies. 

Dialogue forms the basis of solid partnership, hence the EU-PNG Partnership dialogue in Brussels in February 2026 was an important milestone to set the course. With Papua New Guinea, we are turning shared challenges into shared solutions.

Between 1987 and 2020, Papua New Guinea has received over EUR 476 million (Kina 2.5 billion) in the form of development support from the European Union through the European Development Fund. Total ongoing commitments are around Kina 1.25 billion. In addition, Team Europe via our Global Gateway strategy mobilises additional funding for large-scale investment projects. 

One of our key development objectives is to support the Papua New Guinean ambition to sustainably manage its natural resources and transit to a green, carbon neutral economy. 

The EU is providing EUR 54.7 million / 282 million Kina support through the EU - Forestry Climate Change and Biodiversity programme (EU-FCCB). The French Development Agency supports forest and marine biodiversity conservation through its SoNG project (Solwara Na Graun blo Pipol), a EUR 17 million / 85 million Kina project. Both programmes contribute to the success of the PNG Country Package for Forest, Nature and Climate, set up in the context of the Paris Agreement and the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15.

Most recently, Germany’s International Climate Initiative on 7 May officially launched the “PacFresH2O” project in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands to protect freshwater resources and strengthen climate-resilient water and sanitation systems, with up to EUR 10 million / 50 million Kina in each country.  

As Team Europe, the EU and its Member States, together with their financial institutions and development agencies, invest significantly – and increasingly - in infrastructure as part of our Global Gateway strategy. 

• We have already built roads and airstrips in East and West Sepik to help farmers reach markets. 

  • Together with the French Development Agency and the European Investment Bank (EIB), we are going to renovate the Rabaul port, so it will become the first green port of the Pacific. 

  • Together with EIB, we will improve water supply in many urban areas. 

Trade is a strong pillar of our relations. At the beginning of June, we will organise the 5^th EU-PNG Business Forum, bringing European and PNG companies together in Port Moresby to explore business, trade and investment opportunities. 

The European Union and its Member States are actively engaging in security and defence cooperation in the region. Papua New Guinea participates in EU CRIMARIO, the European Union’s Critical Maritime Routes project. France offers training for the PNGDF and civil security, conducted mainly by the Armed Forces in New Caledonia under the Pacific Academy, and a shipriding agreement to strengthen PNG’s exercise of sovereignty over its exclusive economic zone should be signed soon.

The EU and Papua New Guinea join forces to promote good governance, human rights and tackle gender-based violence. 

On Europe Day, we not only honour our past, we reaffirm our commitment to the future. A future where Europe defends its citizens and values with strength and unity; stands in unwavering solidarity with Ukraine and ensures that our neighbourhood thrives in peace and prosperity; and builds global partnerships that deliver for people everywhere, based on fairness and mutual respect. 

This is Europe’s independence moment. This is Europe’s democracy in action. And this is how, together, we shape a better world.

H.E. Ms Erika HASZNOS, resident Ambassador of the European Union 

H.E. Mr Pierre FOURNIER, resident Ambassador of France 

H.E. Mr Karl STOUTHUYSEN, Ambassador of Belgium

H.E. Mr Encho DIMITROV, Ambassador of Bulgaria 

H.E. Mr Juraj KOUDELKA, Ambassador of Czechia 

H. E. Mr Sten FRIMODT NIELSEN, Ambassador of Denmark 

H.E. Ms Beate GRZESKI, Ambassador of Germany 

H.E. Ms Fiona FLOOD, Ambassador of Ireland 

H.E. Mr Jaan REINHOLD, Ambassador of Estonia

H.E. Mr Stavros VENIZELOS, Ambassador of Greece

H.E. Ms Esther MONTERRUBIO VILLAR, Ambassador of Spain 

H.E. Ms Betty BERNARDICA PAVELICH, Ambassador of Croatia 

H.E. Mr Nicola LENER, Ambassador of Italy 

H.E. Mr Antonis SAMMOUTIS, High Commissioner of Cyprus

H.E. Ms Samija SERIFA, Ambassador of Latvia

H.E. Mr Darius DEGUTIS, Ambassador of Lithuania

H.E. Mr Zsolt CSENGER-ZALÁN, Ambassador of Hungary 

H.E. Mr Clifford BORG-MARKS, High-Commissioner of Malta 

H.E. Ms Ardi STOIOS-BRAKEN, Ambassador of the Netherlands 

H.E. Ms Elisabeth KOEGLER, Ambassador of Austria 

Hon. Ms Karolina CEMKA, Chargée d’affaires ad interim, Embassy of Poland

H.E. Ms Carla SARAGOCA, Ambassador of Portugal

H.E. Mr Iulian BUGA, Ambassador of Romania 

H.E. Mr Marko HAM, Ambassador of Slovenia

H.E. Ms Monika TOMASOVICOVA, Ambassador of Slovakia 

H.E. Mr Arto HAAPEA, Ambassador of Finland

H.E. Mr Daniel BLOCKERT, Ambassador of Sweden