Congo’s Foreign Minister Visited Vienna
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg welcomed his Congolese counterpart Jean-Claude Gakosso to a meeting in Vienna. They discussed the economic relations between the two countries and Congo’s security issues.
A Subject of Discussion Between Foreign Minister Schallenberg and his Congolese Counterpart Jean-Claude Gakosso Austria's Help in Building the Pointe Noire, / Picture: © Wikimedia Commons, David Stanley, Public domain
Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg welcomed his Congolese counterpart, Jean-Claude Gakosso, to a working meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Vienna on March 16. The meeting focused on the expansion of bilateral relations, particularly in economic terms, but also on growing concerns about the security situation in the Great Lakes region, as well as the growing influence of the Wagner Group in Africa.
Austria's efforts to promote Congo's economic recovery date back to the 1970s, when domestic steel producers played a key role in building the oil infrastructure in Pointe Noire. The opportunities for bilateral cooperation are to be expanded in mid-April during a delegation trip, where domestic companies in Pointe Noire and Brazzaville intend to sound out new business opportunities.
Austria looks to the Congo's regional neighborhood with great concern. In the Great Lakes region, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, conflicts are expanding, while relations with neighboring Rwanda are deteriorating. In addition, the influence of the Russian Wagner Group is growing in the Central African Republic.
"The EU is the largest donor of development funds and humanitarian aid in Africa. In this way, we are also helping to reduce existing tensions on the African continent. At the same time, it is clear that we firmly oppose the Russian narrative that the West and Ukraine are to blame for the war of aggression, both today and in the future," said Schallenberg.