AU 'cannot be happy' about attempt to expel Palestinians to Africa: Angolan foreign minister

The African Union (AU) "cannot be happy when there is an attempt to expel Palestinians into Africa," Angolan Foreign Minister Tete Antonio has said.

"We definitely defend the two-state solution, two states side by side, and the (UN) Security Council's resolutions now," Antonio told a joint news conference with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Wednesday, following the third EU-AU ministerial meeting in Brussels.

"We are close to the region, and of course, not in the least, indifferent to the sufferings of those people," he added.

Antonio said the AU's "non-indifference principle will be always there for wherever a conflict is happening, and for the people of Palestine."

He said the AU's only permanent invitee to its summits was the Palestinian Authority's chairman, adding that it is a "question of interest, major concern" for the union.

Kallas, for her part, said the situation in Africa's Sahel region is "greatly worrying" the EU, and that the bloc will discuss the "new Sahel strategy."

"I also had many bilateral meetings today, also asking from the African countries their input," she said.

Voicing support for the AU in its regional mediation efforts, she underlined: "All these processes also in Africa have to be African-led and African-owned, even if there is mediation needed."

Kallas also said there is a "fight of narratives" everywhere, and "misinformation is one of the tools that Russia is using, especially in Africa."

"We have to fight the misinformation and foreign malign influence all the time," she added.