The newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Head of Mission of the Republic of the Maldives to the European Union, Geela Ali, presented her Letter of Credence to Charles Michel, the President of the European Council  this afternoon. The ceremony took place at the Europa Building in Brussels.

During the meeting that followed the ceremony, Ambassador Geela conveyed greetings from His Excellency President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu to the President of the European Council and reflected on the existing friendly relations between the Maldives and the European Union. She also highlighted the conclusion of the first framework agreement, ‘Samoa agreement’, between the Maldives and the European Union and reiterated her commitment to further intensify cooperation between the Maldives and the European Union. 

President of the European Council, Charles Michel, congratulated the Ambassador on her appointment and welcomed the positive and growing momentum between the Maldives and the European Union.

Ambassador Geela was accompanied by Mohamed Shaffau Ibrahim, First Secretary and Hassan Nawaaf, Second Secretary at the Mission of the Republic of Maldives to the European Union.

ENDS

The Maldives has signed the “Partnership Agreement between the European Union (EU) and its Member States, of the one part, and the Members of the Organisation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), of the other part”, also known as the “Samoa Agreement” at a signing ceremony in the OACPS headquarters in Brussels today. The Agreement was signed by Geela Ali, Ambassador of the Republic of Maldives to the Kingdom of Belgium, on behalf of the Maldives. The Maldives also submitted declarations and reservations to specific articles of the Agreement at the time of signature.
 
The Agreement will serve as an overarching framework for the relationship between the European Union and OACPS for the next twenty years. It will strengthen the capacity of OACPS member countries to address global challenges and will focus on the priority areas of democracy and human rights, sustainable economic growth and development, climate change, human and social development, peace and security and migration and mobility as key priority areas.
 
The Agreement also marks the first partnership agreement that the Maldives has signed with the European Union and will enable further enhancement of cooperation in a multitude of areas including, economic development, trade, environment and climate change. It will also enable OACPS Member States to realise several benefits from the EU.
 
The Samoa Agreement brings together 79 member states of the OACPS and 27 member states of European Union to represent close to 2 billion people with diverse socio-economic backgrounds representing more than half of the Member States of the United Nations.
 
The OACPS, comprising of African, Caribbean and Pacific States, was established in 1975 under the “Georgetown Agreement”. The Maldives became a full member of the OACPS on 9 December 2022 and has been working together with members of the OACPS and the European Union to address global challenges.

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President Dr Mohamed Muizzu, upon recommendation from the Cabinet, has decided to submit the text of the Samoa Agreement with the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) to the Parliament for approval.

The decision was made following discussions on a paper submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs during yesterday's Cabinet meeting.

The Samoa Agreement is the overarching framework for EU relations with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries. It focuses on six key priority areas to tackle the main challenges over the next two decades. These priorities include human rights, democracy, and governance; peace and security; human and social development; inclusive, sustainable economic growth and development; environmental sustainability and climate change; and migration and mobility.

By signing the agreement and becoming a full member of the OACPS, the Maldives would be able to access the opportunities provided by the European Union across different sectors more easily. These opportunities would also lead to better prices for Maldivian fisheries products when exported internationally.