Dirco hits back following news report on SA's 'strained' relationship with the EU

South Africa has defended its strong relationship with the European Union (EU) amid "false and misleading" claims that the country had failed to respond to multiple requests to hold a high-level summit.

Bloomberg reported on Monday that South Africa failed to respond to multiple requests from the EU for the high-level summit, prompting speculation about the political tensions between them.

According to the article, which cited people familiar with the situation, the EU made several requests to South Africa over 12 months for the summit, but no response had been given.