The European Union must make its voice heard and act in unison to more effectively aid the development of African countries, populist premier Giuseppe Conte said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Europe needs to make a noise and be singing from the same hymn sheet to give more adequate support to the economic and social development of African countries," Conte said.
"One instrument to achieve this is the Trust Fund for Africa, whose current funding is totally inadequate, " he said, referencing the EU's 3.9 billion euro fund aimed at boosting economic development, jobs, the management of migration, governance and conflict prevention.
European countries need to devote greater resources and energy to Africa, to enable it to reach its "vast" potential, Conte underlined.
As Europe goes through an especially critical period of its history, "crushed" by the migrant influx and incapable of forging a "shared and equitable" political strategy, the EU should to re-examine its policies "at EU and individual country level," Conte said.
"The electoral campaign (for the May EU parliamentary polls) can provide Europe's political forces with a good opportunity to debate European and external issues," he stated.
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