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Remarks by President Donald Tusk after the 7th EU-South Africa summit

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First of all, let me thank President Ramaphosa for being here today, for our good summit and for your commitment, dear President, to the EU-South Africa Strategic Partnership.

Our talks today demonstrate that, from climate change and migration to trade and security, we can develop an even stronger partnership between us, which would be a powerful example to the rest of the world. And I am absolutely convinced that under your leadership, Mr President, we can make it happen.

Today, we had a productive discussion on how to address common challenges and how to strengthen our ties. South Africa is a key player, both regionally and globally, and we will step-up our cooperation accordingly, to defend our shared values and interests. These include support for multilateral solutions, including trading system, and the rules-based global order, which will be discussed in two weeks' time at the G20 in Argentina. Next year, South Africa will be on the United Nations Security Council, providing another opportunity to enhance our cooperation on peace and security further.

Also when it comes to migration. Like Europe, South Africa is a destination country for migrants and refugees. So, it is important for both of us that sending-countries take back irregular economic migrants, when requested.

Last but not least, we discussed Brexit. South Africa, like all our international partners, is concerned by Brexit. We updated President Ramaphosa on the state of play of negotiations, and assured him that the EU will do its utmost to keep partner countries informed and to reduce the negative impact of the Brexit process. Thank you.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Council of the European Union.