Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos will participate on Monday, 17 March, in the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) in Brussels.
The latest developments in Ukraine and the course of the Eastern Partnership will top the agenda, and there will also be a discussion of the situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Middle East peace process, developments in the Syrian civil conflict (humanitarian access, destruction of chemical weapons, confronting terrorism), and the preparations for the upcoming EU-Africa Summit. At the luncheon, the Foreign Ministers, together with European Energy Commissioner Oettinger, will look at recent global energy developments and their impact on the shaping of EU foreign policy.
On the margins of the Council, Mr. Venizelos will participate in the informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Friends of Ukraine group, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia in attendance, and on Monday evening he will chair the EU-Uzbekistan Cooperation Council.
On Tuesday, 18 March 2014, Mr. Venizelos will chair the EU General Affairs Council (GAC). The GAC agenda includes preparations for the March European Council, which will focus on growth, competitiveness and employment issues (European Semester, Industrial Competitiveness, Climate Change and Energy). The GAC will also look at the Presidency’s Synthesis Report, which will summarize the implementation of the European Semester so far, and at the Annual Growth Survey.
March 14, 2014