Speech by EU Ambassador to Tanzania at the Djibouti Code of Conduct High-Level Meeting in Dar es Salaam

I am very honoured to represent the European Union and Team Europe here in Dar es Salaam. Allow me to convey our congratulations to the United Republic of Tanzania for hosting and organizing this Djibouti Code of Conduct High-Level Meeting, which is an extremely important event for Western Indian Ocean maritime security.

As the EU Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania, I warmly welcome Tanzania’s integration into the regional maritime security framework through joining the MASE Mechanism and, simultaneously, the Djibouti Code of Conduct-Jeddah Amendment regional maritime security architecture.

The EU, as a regional organization, is a staunch supporter of regional bodies as vehicles for building cooperation between neighbours and for finding common solutions. This is also true in the crucial field of maritime security.

A safe and secure maritime environment is in everyone’s interest. Only through regional cooperation can we collectively meet the challenges we all face in today’s interconnected world.

We are committed to supporting our partners to be better equipped to ensure their own security in the maritime domain. You are the ones who know your maritime region and the maritime threats intimately. I can promise that the EU will remain committed to supporting this region, the MASE mechanism, and especially the objectives of the Djibouti Code of Conduct-Jeddah Amendment. This commitment has been strengthened since the European Union was approved as a ‘Friend of DCOC’ in April. Therefore, I am pleased to be here with you today to speak on behalf of the EU for the first time as an official Friend at this DCOC High-Level Meeting.

The EU and its Member States are major contributors to regional maritime security efforts in the Western Indian Ocean, with EU operations and initiatives exceeding EUR 80 million per year. Working together through partners such as the Indian Ocean Commission, UNODC, INTERPOL, and IMO, the EU provides support to many important initiatives, such as in the area of maritime domain awareness.

In response to the Red Sea crisis, the EU has decided to step up its engagement through an additional Crisis Response project, directly addressing the DCOC 8-point action plan, with a focus on the strengthened uptake of IORIS, the EU-sponsored information-exchange tool.

These initiatives are intended to support you, our partners in this region, to better monitor, secure, and sustainably develop your maritime environment, in line with the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. A more stable, predictable, safe, and secure maritime environment is in the interest of all of us, for our collective security and the prosperity of our citizens.

The EU and its Member States intend to be more present and visible actors in the maritime domain, cooperating with partners and boosting our engagement. European naval vessels regularly navigate the Western Indian Ocean as a visible sign of our contribution to regional maritime security. On average, up to 20 naval assets from EU Member States visit the Western Indian Ocean yearly.

This reflects the importance of your regional maritime security to the EU and our mutual maritime trade with Africa and Asia. We have seen the impact on global trade flows due to the conflict in the Red Sea and the consequent effects on states in terms of reduced fees and dues, as well as increased prices for consumers.

Increased tension in the maritime domain also reduces opportunities for sustainable development and poses greater risks for environmental degradation, as we saw with the Delta Sounion incident this autumn.

Your Excellencies and Distinguished Delegates,

Securing our maritime space has become a major challenge in this increasingly competitive world. The EU has a strong interest in keeping commercial routes open, ensuring the safe and lawful use of maritime natural resources, fighting organized crime, illicit trafficking, and terrorism, and collaborating to protect against new threats.

In your region, new and increasing challenges are arising from maritime hybrid and cyber threats. Illicit trafficking in drugs, arms, and humans is becoming endemic, and these criminal activities often benefit terrorist groups.

We are committed to working with you to support your efforts to address these challenges. The EU has adopted several important regional strategies—for the Horn of Africa (May 2021), for the Indo-Pacific, which includes the NW Indian Ocean (September 2021), and for the Gulf (May 2022). Our EU Maritime Security Strategy was updated just a year ago. One common goal of all these strategies is to create the conditions for mutually beneficial partnerships and cooperation with our regional partners to promote security and stability in these important regions.

From the EU’s point of view, the Djibouti Code of Conduct and Jeddah Amendment, with the incorporated MASE Mechanism, offers one of the best avenues for providing an effective regional framework to address maritime security challenges. We strongly support the international Secretariat in Kenya and look forward to engaging in specific capacity-building projects.

The task is immense, but together we will be stronger. We are pleased that the EU became a Friend of the Djibouti Code of Conduct this year. We sincerely hope that this new partnership will take our current cooperation to a new level.

With this, I wish you all fruitful deliberations and an excellent meeting.