PARIS, France – President Cyril Ramaphosa is in France for a three-day state visit combining diplomatic talks and a solemn commemoration of South African soldiers who fell during World War I.
The visit centres on Sunday’s ceremony marking the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Delville Wood in Longueval, northern France, where several hundred South Africans were killed during one of the bloodiest engagements of the Great War.
Ramaphosa met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday, with discussions revealing what a French diplomatic source described as “broad convergence of views” on ongoing crises in the Middle East and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The two leaders shared the same assessment of the “crisis in the Gulf and the economic consequences of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz”, where shipping has been disrupted by the US-Iran war, according to the diplomatic source.
On the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, both presidents agreed on the need to “encourage regional efforts for peace and security” in the war-torn eastern regions, where “South Africa plays a stabilising role”, the source added.
A key outcome of the meeting was the agreement to establish an “annual bilateral dialogue at the level of foreign ministers”, strengthening formal ties between the two nations.
The visit comes months after controversy surrounding the G7 summit held in June in Evian, southern France. South Africa announced in March that Ramaphosa was no longer invited to the gathering, citing pressure from the United States. France disputed this claim, stating it had received no pressure from US President Donald Trump and had simply limited the number of invited countries to improve the effectiveness of discussions.
Following Friday’s talks, Macron hosted a dinner in Ramaphosa’s honour at the Élysée Palace, attended by families of heroes of the anti-apartheid struggle.
On Saturday, the South African leader was scheduled to meet French business leaders ahead of Sunday’s commemoration ceremony.
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