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)...

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...

The Belgian President of the European Council Charles Michel and French President Emmanuel Macron who is the current chair of the EU's six-month rotating presidency have focused their preparatory meetings for the summit almost exclusively on Africa's Francophone leaders...

On 19 December Congo-Kinshasa's President Félix Tshisekedi and Senegal's President Macky Sall the present and next holders of the AU presidency respectively joined Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and AU Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat in Brussels for talks with European Council President Charles Michel to lay the groundwork for an Africa-Europe summit on 17-18 February...

Now EU Council President Charles Michel has announced with minimum consultation that the EU will host a more informal 'mini-summit' pencilled in for 9 December although this could also fall victim to the pandemic...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and European Council President Charles Michel joined the talks by video-link as did African Union commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Secretary General of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Louise Mushikiwabo...