Angolan President Calls for Dialogue in Mozambique Crisis

Ferhat Momade/AIM

12 December 2024

Angola Press Agency (Luanda)

Pretoria — President João Lourenço appealed on Thursday in Pretoria to the parties involved in the post-election dispute in Mozambique to find the best ways of resolving it through dialogue.

The Angolan president made the statement at the opening of official talks between the governments of the two countries, as part of his state visit to South Africa aimed at strengthening cooperation.

João Lourenço also said that Angola will chair the African Union in 2025 and is currently a member of the organization's Peace and Security Council until 2026.

The President added that Angola's action in these bodies is particularly important given the country's very important commitment to African causes, such as stability, peace and security, the promotion of development and the modernization of infrastructures for the integration of the various regions that make up Africa.

João Lourenço reiterated the need for Angola to count on South Africa's support to carry out all the projects and programs it has outlined for its presidency in 2025, and to be an important voice in the defense of the interests of all Africans whenever the continent is called upon to intervene at the most important stages.

With regard to the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), President João Lourenço stressed that, in view of the mandate given to his country by the African Union to help that country find peace, Angola is continuing to develop initiatives to facilitate dialogue between the parties, with the aim of normalizing political-diplomatic relations, friendship, good neighborliness and security between the DRC and Rwanda.

João Lourenço recalled that since March of this year, the facilitator has been carrying out a series of actions that will lead to a tripartite summit to be held in Luanda on 15 December, where the possibility of signing a peace agreement between the two parties will be analyzed in order to put a definitive end to the conflict plaguing the east of the DRC.

The Angolan President reiterated the need to find ways to reactivate the Tripartite Mechanism for Dialogue and Cooperation between Angola, South Africa and the DRC as a key instrument of cooperation to promote dialogue and strengthen mutual relations between the three countries in the areas of peace and security, economic and social development and respect for human rights and international law.

In addition to this mechanism and other initiatives aimed at pacifying the region, Lourenço expressed his country's interest in developing lines of communication with South Africa for permanent consultations in order to define common positions and strategies in the search for solutions to the various crises emerging in the region, such as the worrying instability in Mozambique, following the non-acceptance by one of the parties of the results of the last general elections held in that country.

In his speech, João Lourenço reiterated his concern about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Sudan, due to the intensification of the war in that country, which currently has millions of refugees and displaced persons in need of humanitarian assistance.

World situation

With regard to the world scenario, the Angolan President said that we cannot remain indifferent to the explosive situation in the Middle East, where the events in Gaza and those that have recently taken place in Syria are causing the international community very serious concern, for reasons linked mainly to the unpredictability of what could happen in the near future in this region, which is already explosive and troubled, and could cause unprecedented instability.

It is essential that none of the major players present in Syria and its neighboring countries seek to gain political, military or any other advantage from this tragedy affecting the Syrian people," Lourenço said.

João Lourenço also took the opportunity to congratulate Cyril Ramaphosa and the South African people on South Africa's assumption of the G-20 presidency for the year 2025.ART/TED/AMP

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