Mbabane – The European Union has marked half a century of development partnership with the Kingdom of Eswatini, with EU Ambassador H.E. Karsten Mecklenburg reflecting on five decades of cooperation that has touched thousands of Swati lives across agriculture, education and skills development.
Speaking at the 3rd Eswatini-EU Partnership Dialogue held in Mbabane, Ambassador Mecklenburg said the milestone coincides with a historic moment, the first Africa-EU Parliamentary Assembly being hosted in the Kingdom, bringing together the EU and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS).
“We opened our first office almost exactly 50 years ago, at the time the European Communities Office of the European Commission,” he said. “This is the context I want to highlight because we are celebrating this 50th anniversary.” 
The ambassador described the relationship as one that has left a meaningful mark on the country, crediting the government, civil society and the business community for the progress achieved over the decades.
One of the most cited areas of cooperation is the sugar and agriculture sector, where the EU committed more than 120 million euros over 15 years. Ambassador Mecklenburg acknowledged the partnership was not without its critics.
“When I arrived one and a half years ago, we had a bit of a challenge. Some of the cooperatives that we supported in the sugar sector gave us the feedback that the European Union only supports the rich, the big sugar producers,” he said.
“Yesterday, in the exchange with Royal Sugar, we got the feedback that the European Union took too much focus on supporting operators and the poor.”
He took the contrasting criticism in stride. “In the arithmetic of politics, I would believe that it may have been actually perfect, because if you have no warm support from everybody and nobody is condemning the impacts, then it was possibly a great impact.”
Beyond agriculture, the EU has also invested in pre-primary education and is currently running a focused programme on skills development, technical and vocational training, and human development targeting the younger generation.
Ambassador Mecklenburg acknowledged that the war in Russia and Ukraine has strained EU resources globally, limiting what can be channelled into partner countries like Eswatini.
To mark the 50th anniversary, the EU produced a commemorative booklet featuring testimonials from 50 Swati individuals, one for each year of the partnership, sharing how EU-funded projects changed their personal lives and businesses.
“We found 50 Mswati who speak up on what the European Union has changed for their lives,” the ambassador said, before presenting copies of the booklet to Minister of Foreign Affairs Senator Pholile Shakantu, Minister of Economic Planning and Development Dr. Tambo Gina, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade Melusi Masuku, and Eswatini Ambassador to Belgium Sibusisiwe Mngomezulu.
The testimonials are being released daily on the EU’s Facebook page as one-minute videos, running from this week through to early June.
