EU Day commemoration: Remarks by Alexander Baum, EU Ambassador to Botswana and SADC
I am pleased to welcome you again to the EU Residence for this lunch time reception; a particular welcome also to the children of Northside School, who will sing for us the national anthems.
The occasion we would like to mark today – same procedure as every year – is the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration of 9th May 1950, which marks the beginning of what we call today the European Union.
This is, by the way, the 9th Europe Day reception for me and for us – which is my family: my wife Nazeela and our girls Nicole, Michelle and Christine – and it is – it seems – also the last one as we will be leaving Botswana in about two months after having spent four years in Botswana and more than eight years in the region.
When you follow the world news you may wish to agree that the European Union has probably never been more indispensable than today – not only for European citizens but also for the world, for our partners and friends and all those who want to work in a cooperative way to strengthen multilateralism, peace, sustainable development, free and fair trade as well as democracy and human rights – to use the words of Federica Mogherini, the foreign policy chief of the EU. Not long ago we would have said: same speech, we all want and say that, but the meaning of those overused words has become precious and endangered. And to quote her again: "in this global world, we face economic giants and continent-sized powers. So, we also need to be a giant, to face challenges and to benefit from the potential opportunities".
So, we try to be a giant and it looks as if some of our closest friends are helping us to be more united, because it is the unity that makes us a giant. Of course, we are not always united as we have experienced periods of acceleration and stagnation, enthusiasm and doubts, but in the end the Union has - so far - come out as more integrated and stronger – and….. at the moment… even more united (at least 27). Europe's integration makes surely a lot of sense. But we are not an empire created or held together by force, we are and we grow together voluntarily and that’s why we see the sometimes painful self-reflections. And as we are together voluntarily, it is also legitimate for member states to make different choices such as the English voters did by majority in the referendum on the EU membership held in the United Kingdom in June 2016 that led to the decision of the UK government to leave the party by end of March next year.
At the same time, we are continuing with accession negotiations with five other countries in the Balkans. Let's call it 'variable geography'.
In our journey from the European Communities in 1957 to the European Union of today, we developed strong relations with the rest of the world. It was ironically the accession of the United Kingdom in 1973 which led to the conclusion of the first Lomé Convention in 1975, which became the foundation for our relations with Botswana as well as many other countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. By the way, the Agreement that followed the fourth edition of the Lomé Convention concluded in 2000, the Cotonou Agreement will expire after 20 years validity in 2020. Currently, negotiation mandates are being finalised on both sides and will be adopted in the coming weeks so that negotiations can be formally opened in August this year as the current agreement foresees. I am confident that there will be another agreement with the European Union, which will be important for further developing our bilateral relations. I have not heard much noise about this so far, but I would encourage Botswana to take an active interest in these negotiations, which in the end also determine how we relate at bilateral level.
But with or without agreement, we are here to stay and we promise to make every effort to develop our relation further into a mature partnership. The EU has been a faithful development partner to Botswana over all these years, but I must also highlight that we have had a strong common understanding in our values and views about what is happening around the world. Under the current funding cycle of the 11th European Development Fund, we hope to support Botswana in addressing its own ambition to diversify the economy and to address the growing issue of youth unemployment notably through significantly improved Technical and Vocational Education and Training (in short TVET sector) in the coming years – this in cooperation with the German Government/GIZ, but also to develop economic relations with more investments, trade and dialogue on policies. Needless to say that the Government is in the lead, we are here to help and offer also new tools and instruments to do so.
And while I would say that our bilateral cooperation could perhaps have been more dynamic over the past years, I can proudly say that the EU and Botswana have strong relations and a perhaps much broader common understanding than we have with many other countries on this continent.
As already mentioned before, today's Europe Day reception will be the last one under my leadership. After four years in Botswana and eight and a half years in the region, we will return to Europe in a few months. There will, of course, be other occasions to say 'by-by" but this is a first occasion to launch our farewell and to say that we have enjoyed our time in Botswana and will be very sad to leave.
Honourable Minister, ladies and gentlemen, I hope you enjoy this occasion and our reception.
May I invite you now to lift you glasses for a toast to his Excellency President Mogwetsi Masisi, who I wish success in steering this country towards national elections next year; election which will – I am sure – confirm Botswana's standing as a mature and stable democracy and example for the rest of the continent. Kea leboga, Pula!