Brussels, 11 March 2025
The President of the European Council, António Costa will travel to Berlin and Cape Town on 12-13 March 2025 to attend the 100th anniversary of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung foundation and represent the European Union at the eighth EU-South Africa summit.
In the context of the preparations for the upcoming European Council meeting, on 12 March President Costa will be in Berlin to meet with the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz. Ahead of the 20-21 March European Council, the meeting will be the opportunity to exchange views on all the major issues currently on the table of the EU leaders: Russia’s war against Ukraine, strengthening and financing European defence, boosting EU competitiveness and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF). A joint press conference will follow the meeting.
On the same day, President Costa will attend the centenary celebrations of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, a political foundation renowned for its work in advancing social democracy, human rights and socio-economic development.
The following day, the President will represent the European Union, together with the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, at the eighth EU-South Africa summit in Cape Town. Meeting at leaders’ level for the first time since 2018, the EU and South Africa will reaffirm the need to further strengthen their strategic partnership and advance on some of the most pressing global and regional issues which are also part of South Africa’s G20 Presidency. Discussions will focus on current geopolitical challenges, including Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East, as well as on the regional context, namely the current escalation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The summit will also serve as a platform to make progress on several spheres of bilateral cooperation, such as economic, trade and investment relations, security and defence, energy, research and innovation.
I am looking forward to the summit and our discussions on improving economic relations, energy transition, security and defence, sustainable value chains and multilateral cooperation. We are dedicated to strengthening the long-standing and geostrategic partnership between the EU and South Africa, especially given the current geopolitical challenges.
António Costa, President of the European Council
Source – European Council: Visit the meeting page