The African Union kicked off, on Thursday, its 39th session of the Executive Council with the participation of the Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra, in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

The opening session, which is scheduled for two consecutive days, addressed a number of topics such as the implementation of Agenda 2063 and the strengthening of cooperation between the countries of the African continent in the field of combating the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is expected that the Council will make a decision regarding canceling, freezing, or maintaining the decision to grant "Israel" observer status in the African Union, after a campaign led by Algeria and South Africa against this decision, in addition to choosing the topic of the next summit and the organization's fiscal budget for 2022.

Moussa Faki, the Chairman of the African Union Commission, revealed in his intervention that in regards to the Covid-19 battle, there is a special report scheduled, and a road map must be developed to confront these challenges.

Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra affirmed Algeria's commitment to preserving the unity in African ranks. He called on his counterparts to spare the Union the factors of division and to give priority over collective interest, in order not to undermine the spirit of African solidarity and unity.

The Algerian minister emphasized the need of reducing the organization's expenditures in order to minimize the organization's reliance on foreign partners and donors to fund its activities.

The session will be attended by Presidents, officials, and ministers from the African Organization's 55 member nations.