BRUSSELS: The European Union pledged an additional 50 million euros ($61 million) to a joint counterterror drive in West Africa's huge Sahel area, as leaders accrued lately in a show of support for the impoverished countries.
The 5,000-strong Sahel drive for Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger needs round 400 million euros for its challenge alongside their mostly wilderness borders, including near Libya the main jumping-off level for hundreds of African migrants certain for Italy.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urged round 30 EU and African leaders in Brussels to donate "at the level required for what is at stake and what is needed" because the fatal threat of extremism grows.
"The Sahel is one of Europe's frontiers. The Sahel is a shield, a dike that must never burst," said Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou. He urged the leaders "to be up to the challenge," underlining that "security is a global public good." Security has deteriorated in the Sahel since 2011, with extremist attacks a routine occurrence, as fighters but in addition other people looking for higher lives in Europe move simply through the long, porous borders.
More than 1,100 other people had been killed since 2014, nearly 400 of them closing yr. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is considered essentially the most active of round 8 groups operating there.
The 50 million euro pledge comes on most sensible of round 250 million euros that had already been presented, including $100 million from Saudi Arabia, some 90 million euros from the EU and its member international locations and $60 million from the United States.
But the EU insists it isn't on the subject of safety. Brussels says political assist and building assistance are essential in a area wracked by extreme poverty, harsh local weather, food shortages and well being crises.
"We need to support these five countries, especially also to give hope to the next generations so that they have also a future in their own country," said Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.
The EU has invested more than eight billion euros in building assist in the Sahel for 2014-2020. Part of that is self-interest because the EU seeks to ease its burden by tackling the foundation reasons of migration.
While migrant arrivals via Libya have dropped, more than 120,000 other people still left there closing yr. Many perish in the crossing of the Sahel and Sahara earlier than they may be able to even take their possibilities in the Mediterranean.
The 5,000-strong Sahel drive for Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger needs round 400 million euros for its challenge alongside their mostly wilderness borders, including near Libya the main jumping-off level for hundreds of African migrants certain for Italy.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urged round 30 EU and African leaders in Brussels to donate "at the level required for what is at stake and what is needed" because the fatal threat of extremism grows.
"The Sahel is one of Europe's frontiers. The Sahel is a shield, a dike that must never burst," said Niger President Mahamadou Issoufou. He urged the leaders "to be up to the challenge," underlining that "security is a global public good." Security has deteriorated in the Sahel since 2011, with extremist attacks a routine occurrence, as fighters but in addition other people looking for higher lives in Europe move simply through the long, porous borders.
More than 1,100 other people had been killed since 2014, nearly 400 of them closing yr. Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb is considered essentially the most active of round 8 groups operating there.
The 50 million euro pledge comes on most sensible of round 250 million euros that had already been presented, including $100 million from Saudi Arabia, some 90 million euros from the EU and its member international locations and $60 million from the United States.
But the EU insists it isn't on the subject of safety. Brussels says political assist and building assistance are essential in a area wracked by extreme poverty, harsh local weather, food shortages and well being crises.
"We need to support these five countries, especially also to give hope to the next generations so that they have also a future in their own country," said Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.
The EU has invested more than eight billion euros in building assist in the Sahel for 2014-2020. Part of that is self-interest because the EU seeks to ease its burden by tackling the foundation reasons of migration.
While migrant arrivals via Libya have dropped, more than 120,000 other people still left there closing yr. Many perish in the crossing of the Sahel and Sahara earlier than they may be able to even take their possibilities in the Mediterranean.
EU pledges € 50m to African counter-terror force
![EU pledges € 50m to African counter-terror force]()
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February 23, 2018
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