Informal talks that had been planned between Sudan’s military government and the European Union in Brussels this week were cancelled after a public outcry over their secrecy, a prominent Sudanese columnist said on Monday.
Al-Tahir Satti wrote that a Sudanese delegation was due to meet EU officials in the Belgian capital on Nov. 27 and 28 for discussions on a ceasefire, humanitarian access and the political track, but said the meetings were called off after details leaked in the local press.
Satti said neither the military government in Port Sudan nor the EU had publicly announced the talks in advance, describing them as “behind-the-scenes” meetings that even some senior state authorities were unaware of. He said he was later informed by sources that the encounters had been cancelled rather than postponed.
The columnist, who has criticised what he calls a pattern of “secret diplomacy” with foreign partners, argued that any legitimate dialogue on Sudan’s future should be conducted transparently and under a unified foreign-policy channel.
He urged the authorities to stick to the Saudi–U.S. Jeddah track, launched early in the war to seek a ceasefire, and to abandon what he described as competing initiatives, including an emerging “Quad” framework that he said was driven by the United Arab Emirates.
EU officials and Sudanese authorities have not publicly confirmed the cancellation, and there was no immediate comment from either side on the status of the talks.
