The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hon. Antonio Tajani, will have a packed agenda of meetings today and tomorrow, 11 and 12 December, in Brussels where he will attend the European Union Foreign Affairs Council as well as other institutional meetings.
At the proposal of the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, the 27 Foreign Affairs Ministers of the member Countries will convene for the board meeting of the Global Gateway, the European strategy to co-promote with partner Countries smart, clean, and secure links in the digital, energy and transport sectors and to strengthen health, education, and research systems across the world.
The meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council will open on Monday, 12 December, and will be chaired by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. It schedules an exchange of opinions on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and on Iran. On the agenda of the meeting of the 27 Foreign Ministers is also a debate on topical issues such as the situation in Moldova, the Southern Neighbourhood and Tunisia, human rights, and the state of progress in the implementation of the EU Action Plan for the consequences of the war in Ukraine.
Deputy Prime Minister Tajani is scheduled to speak at the opening session of the launch of the “Team Europe Initiatives” for the migratory crisis along the Central Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Western Mediterranean routes. Italy is the initiative’s principal promoter together with France and Spain with the aim of boosting coordination in the projects of the European Commission and Member States in the principal Countries of origin and transit of migration flows. On the sidelines of the Council, a meeting of the EU-Eastern Partnership Foreign Ministers will convene the EU Foreign Ministers and their counterparts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine. The debate will offer the opportunity to reflect on the future of the Partnership, the challenges in the security sector, and the fallout of Russia’s war against Ukraine on the entire region. At the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Tajani will also speak on behalf of Austria, Ireland, and Slovenia.