Germany, SA seek to expand cooperation but Russia weighs

Germany and South Africa want to expand their bi-lateral cooperation, for example in the fight against climate change, despite differences of opinion on how to deal with Russia.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and her South African counterpart Naledi Pandor stressed the importance of the relations between the two countries in South Africa's capital Pretoria on Tuesday.

Pandor had greeted Baerbock warmly with a smile and kisses on both cheeks, and said her country's relationship with Germany was a "very important strategic partnership."

She addressed, among other things, cooperation at the economic level, in tourism and in the fight against climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We are faced with different and yet equally serious global challenges in Africa and elsewhere in the world," she said, "including in Europe, where the war in Ukraine has had global ramifications."

Germany has been critical of South Africa's failure to clearly condemn the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. South Africa declares itself neutral in the conflict.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was recently in Russia and Ukraine with an African delegation for mediation efforts, but without any apparent success.

Baerbock thanked Ramaphosa for his support of the UN Charter in his efforts to bring peace to Ukraine.

The Russian war was "an attack on the UN Charter and on the very rules that bind and protect us all," she said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been invited to attend a summit of the BRICS countries – Brazil, India, China, Russia and South Africa – in South Africa on August 22-24, along with the heads of state of the other nations.

As the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an international warrant for Putin's arrest on war crimes charges, and as South Africa is a party to the ICC statute, he could face arrest. South Africa has not made its position clear.

During her visit, Baerbock is also scheduled to attend a meeting of a bilateral commission set up by Germany and South Africa in 1996, which meets every two years. Green hydrogen and skills training are on the agenda.