EPP Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting
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EPP Foreign Affairs Ministers Meeting

EPP Foreign Affairs Ministers, co-chaired by Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence, Simon COVENEY TD and EPP Vice President and Chairman of the EP AFET Committee, David McALLISTER MEP met this morning to prepare and discuss the FAC agenda.

The Russian aggression against Ukraine was dominating the discussion where ministers agreed to support the launch of the EU Military Assistance Mission (EUMAM) to allow its training activities to start before winter. Furthermore, ministers agreed to move forward in a united and comprehensive manner when it comes to the protection of critical infrastructure, reconstruction, and energy and that all needs to be done to stop Russia using food and energy as a geopolitical weapon with consequences all over the world.

As regards the Western Balkan region, EPP ministers reiterated their unwavering support for a swift EU integration of the entire region, the need for urgent political and socio-economic reforms as well as clear commitment as regards CFSP alignment. Looking ahead to the 6 December EU-Western Balkan Summit and the December European Council, ministers underlined the importance of finally granting Kosovo visa liberalization and moving ahead with the candidate status of Bosnia and Herzegovina, using the new momentum for enlargement.

Last not least topics on the agenda were the geostrategic hotspot region of the Great Lakes in Africa, the urgency not to turn our eyes from the worrying developments in Iran, the political and socioeconomic crisis in Lebanon, the ongoing COP27 discussions, an update on Armenia, EU-Latin America relations (CELAC) and the preparation for a special discussion with Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Lukashenko´s complicity in Russia’s war against Ukraine.