A week after the sinking of a boat carrying several hundred migrants off the Calabrian coast in southern Italy which killed more than 60 people European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote to Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni praising her government's tough migration policies...

European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen were able to brief that they and the AU had agreed on a united message on food security placing the blame for disruptions to food supply squarely on Russian President Vladimir Putin's shoulders (Dispatches 10/5/22 The UN reports that food and energy crises are deepening due to Russia's war on Ukraine)...

Three days later at a special AU Humanitarian summit EU President Ursula von der Leyen said Brussels would step up funding to boost food security efforts in Africa and set out Brussels's diplomatic case...

The beleaguered head of state was refused meetings with France's President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the African Union-European Union summit in Brussels in mid-February prompting him to try to win back some credibility and foreign financial support...

Abiy was given similar advice at February's EU-AU Summit in Brussels where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron encouraged dialogue as a matter of urgency...

For now European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says ending energy imports from Russia trumps all else...

Also in Paris for Macron's meeting were the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen the European Council president Charles Michel and the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell...