The foreign minister, Anders Samuelsen, is in Brussels today to meet with representatives of the African Union and the EU regarding peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.
Denmark is a key player in fighting extremism and terrorism in the region, as well as preventing irregular migration and promoting maritime security in an area that is critical to Danish and international shipping. The Danish efforts are concentrated particularly in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia.
“Our support of stability, peace and security in the Horn of Africa is imperative to the positive development of the entire region, but also to our own security,” said Samuelsen.
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On to third phase
As part of the program, the Danish Defence has deployed three military advisors to Kenya to help strengthen local and regional abilities to tackle conflict and security challenges, such as piracy in the western part of the Indian Ocean.
The new program is the third peace and stabilisation phase dedicated to the Horn of Africa since 2011, and the new effort has been sponsored with 223 million kroner from mid-2018 to mid-2022.
The program is one of several elements in a broad Danish effort in the region, which includes country programs, support to civil society, humanitarian endeavours, curbing the financing of terrorism, money laundering, and the trafficking of humans, arms and drugs.