Jeannette Seppen, who arrived in Angola in September last year, replacing Tomas Ulicny, asked last week for a meeting with the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, regarding the incidents in the province of Lunda Norte.
The meeting "has not yet taken place", but received a positive response from the authorities, with only the practical details for scheduling remaining, said the European official.
On Thursday, a community spokesman told Lusa that the European Union delegation in Angola addressed, on behalf of the EU and the heads of mission, a letter to Francisco Queiroz deploring the events and requesting a meeting to address the issue directly with the minister, recalling the importance of international human rights standards.
The case should not affect, however, the "very strong" partnership between Angola and the European Union, said the ambassador.
"It is a dialogue partnership between partners, between friends," said Jeannette Seppen, in an interview with Lusa, recalling that the European Union delegation has been present in the country since 1986 and the partnership was reconfirmed through the "Joint Way" agreement, signed in 2012, and which aims to strengthen the dialogue in an interactive and participatory cooperation framework.
"It is in this context that we decided to talk about everything, the most difficult subjects and those that are slightly easier", pointed out the diplomat of Dutch nationality, admitting that what happened in the mining town of the diamond-rich province of Lunda Norte is "a great European Union concern ".
Cafunfo was the scene of incidents between the police and the popular on 30 January, which resulted in an undetermined number of deaths and injuries, and has been under a strong security force since that time.
Jeannette Seppen pointed out that human rights assume a prominent role within the EU and in the bloc's foreign policy: "For this reason, we already have an annual dialogue with Angola on this topic and it will be in this context that we will continue to talk to the Government , to find out exactly what happened and to reinforce the importance we attach to the protection of human rights ".
"We will see what the minister will tell us," added Jeannette Seppen, stressing that dialogue "is the fundamental instrument in a partnership and fundamental in diplomatic relations".
The European diplomat considered that, as in other countries, the covid-19 pandemic is also having an "enormous impact" in Angola and the phenomenon must also be framed from the perspective of human rights.
