Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos will travel to Luxembourg today, Sunday, 21 April, to participate in the EU General Affairs and Foreign Affairs Councils (GAC/FAC). On Sunday evening he will attend an informal working dinner being hosted by Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn on the situation in Syria.
On Monday morning, 22 April, he will participate in the proceedings of the EU General Affairs Council, the agenda for which includes preparations for the 22 May European Council, the multiannual financial framework, and the presentation of the Commission Reports on FYROM, Serbia and Kosovo.
He will then participate in the proceedings of the EU Foreign Affairs Council, which will include a discussion of the Eastern Partnership, the Southern Neighbourhood, with emphasis on Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, as well as the situation in Mali and Myanmar.
Mr. Avramopoulos will travel on from Luxembourg to Brussels, where, on Tuesday, 23 April, he will participate in the spring meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers.
The agenda for the ministerial includes a briefing on the latest developments in Syria, the Middle East and North Africa, and on the prospects for further development of partnerships with the countries of the Mediterranean Dialogue.
Within the framework of the ministerial, Mr. Avramopoulos will participate in the proceedings of the NATO-Russia Council and he will attend a working luncheon of the Atlantic Alliance Foreign Ministers – to be attended by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton – on the subject of the challenges in Afghanistan and Pakistan after 2014. Mr. Avramopoulos will then participate in the Meeting of the Council, where, with Ms. Ashton and the non-NATO members contributing to the ISAF operation in attendance, there will be a discussion of the situation in Afghanistan.
April 21, 2013