The G20 grouping of nations has agreed to grant permanent membership to the African Union, Bloomberg News said on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The move would give the African Union, a continental body of 55 member states, the same status as the EU, from its current designation of "invited international organization," it added.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote to the leaders of the G20 nations in June proposing the African Union be given full, permanent membership of the bloc at the upcoming summit in the Indian capital.
The grouping currently comprises 19 countries and the European Union.
The G20 this year has also invited nine non-member countries, including Bangladesh, Singapore, Spain and Nigeria, besides international organisations such as the United Nations, World Health Organization, the World Bank and the IMF to the weekend summit in New Delhi.
The G20 leaders are expected to announce the decision during the summit, the Bloomberg report said.
Countries like Germany, Brazil, and Canada have also expressed their support for African Union membership to the G20.
The G20 or Group of 20 is an intergovernmental forum of the world's major developed and developing economies. The members represent around 85% of global GDP, over 75% of global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.
G20 agrees membership for African Union on par with EU
https://arab.news/456r9
G20 agrees membership for African Union on par with EU
- The grouping currently comprises 19 countries and the European Union
- The G20 leaders are expected to announce the decision during the summit
France to open consulate in Greenland in February
- The comments came on the day that Denmark’s top diplomat is to meet senior US officials at the White House for talks over Greenland
PARIS: France will open a consulate in Greenland on February 6, the foreign minister said Wednesday, calling the move a “political signal” over the strategic Danish territory, which US President Donald Trump has vowed to seize.
The comments came on the day that Denmark’s top diplomat is to meet senior US officials at the White House for talks over the future of vast, mineral-rich Arctic island.
Since returning to office nearly a year ago, Trump has repeatedly mused about taking over Greenland from longtime ally and European Union member Denmark.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told French RTL broadcaster that the decision to open the consulate was taken last summer, when President Emmanuel Macron visited Greenland in a show of support.
“For my part, I went there at the end of August to plan the consulate, which will open on February 6,” he said.
“It’s a political signal that’s associated with a desire to be more present in Greenland, including in the scientific field.”
“Greenland does not want to be owned, governed... or integrated into the United States. Greenland has made the choice of Denmark, NATO, (European) Union,” he said.
Greenland’s leader has said that the island would choose to remain an autonomous territory of Denmark over the United States.
Trump has said the United States needs Greenland due to the threat of a takeover by Russia or China.
The two rival powers have both stepped up activity in the Arctic, where ice is melting due to climate change, but neither claims Greenland, where the United States has long had a military base.
