Portugal is aiming to play a key role in helping the European Union understand developments in Africa, especially in terms of security, stability and peace, said Foreign Minister João Gomes Cravinho at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa.

Portugal's foreign minister, along with Prime Minister Antonio Costa, are representing the country at the African Union Summit.

Gomes Cravinho told Lusa News that Portugal is adopting "this pivotal role," which "is to help the European Union understand what is changing on the African continent and how best to adapt its approach to supporting peace, security and stability in Africa, which are of direct interest" to Brussels.

He added that we must "not forget that the flows of refugees and illegal migrants arriving in the European Union often arrive as a result of situations of war, of violence, which prevents them from continuing to live in their countries in Africa," so "there is a direct interest" in the security of the continent.

"We can see today that there is a certain urgency for Europeans and Africans to work together on various issues, particularly in the area of peace and security, the Gulf of Guinea, the Sahel, the Central African Republic, issues in which we are very involved and also very important here in the African Union," the finance minister went on to say.

Gomes Cravinho continued that the African "security architecture" is "very fragile" during a meeting with the African Union's Peace and Security Commissioner Bankole Adeoye, Euractiv reports.

Furthermore, in regard to the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, "where several African countries are involved," Portugal's finance minister said the parties "sit here at the negotiating table to find peaceful solutions to the problems that oppose these countries, but are also of an internal nature."