L-R: Etienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence; Jorge Carlos de Almeida Fonseca, President of the Republic of Cape Verde; Credit: Direction de la défense

Luxembourg has signed an agreement with Portugal and Cape Verde encompassing assistance to the latter in the field of maritime safety.

On 6 and 7 August 2018, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, Étienne Schneider, undertook a working visit to Cape Verde. In Praia, the Luxembourg minister, together with the Cape Verdean and Portuguese Defence Ministers, signed a declaration of cooperation between the 3 countries, which plans to assist Cape Verde with maritime safety.

An archipelago made up of 10 islands located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Verde must ensure the maritime safety of its coastline and its vast exclusive economic zone of nearly 735,000 km2. The victim of much illegal trafficking, Cape Verde can now rely on the combined resources and experience of Luxembourg and Portugal to fight against it. Such trafficking concern above all drug networks destined for Europe operating via the Gulf of Guinea and the Cape Verdean waters, as well as the pirates who attacked boats flying the Luxembourg flag. Concretely, the two countries will train the NCOs of the Cape Verdean Coast Guard in the academies of the Portuguese Navy.

Luxembourg and Portugal will also finance new operational equipment for the Cape Verde coastguard by the end of 2019. In this context, the Luxembourg Army will sell decommissioned vehicles meeting the clear needs of the Cape Verdean authorities. Launched by Defence Minister Etienne Schneider, this cooperation enriches the bilateral relations between Luxembourg and Cape Verde which are traditionally in the field of development aid .