SADC and EU Strengthen Ties Through Ministerial Partnership Dialogue in Harare
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU) successfully held a Ministerial Partnership Dialogue in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 15 March 2025. The dialogue focused on areas of mutual interest, including peace and security, human and sustainable development, climate change, environment, trade, and investment.
The high-level meeting was co-chaired by Honourable Prof. Amon Murwira, Zimbabwe’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and current Chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers, alongside Honourable Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, representing the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission.
The dialogue fostered collaboration and reinforced the relationship between SADC and the EU, with discussions centered on global, continental, and regional issues impacting peace and security, development, and cooperation. Both parties assessed progress in the implementation of the SADC-EU Cooperation and the 2021-2027 Multiannual Indicative Programme for Sub-Saharan Africa (MIP SSA).
SADC was represented by its “Double Troika” Member States: Zimbabwe (Chair), Angola (former Chair), and Madagascar (incoming Chair), along with Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia, which lead the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security Affairs. The SADC Secretariat was also present.
The EU delegation included Minister Sikorski, officials from the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Commission, the Government of Poland, and EU Ambassadors to Botswana and Zimbabwe.
This Ministerial Dialogue was preceded by the SADC-EU Senior Officials’ Dialogue on 14 March 2025. The SADC-EU Political Dialogue was first established at the SADC-EU Ministerial Conference in Berlin, Germany, in 1994, and has since been held biennially, alternating between the EU and SADC regions.
