Ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken bespreken Midden Oosten en Rusland op informele vergadering (en)

Press release 330/200630 August

The foreign ministers of the EU countries will convene for their so-called Gymnich meeting, the informal ministerial meeting during the Finnish Presidency, in Lappeenranta on 1-2 September. The venue of the meeting is the historical site of the Lappeenranta Fortress.

Finland's aim is that the meeting would focus on a few current questions that are of central interest to the EU. This time, the Gymnich meeting will also be organised without any outside opening speakers or guests. Those invited include the foreign ministers of the member states and states about to join the EU, High Representative Javier Solana, i and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner i.

In the light of the current international situation and the goals set for the Finnish Presidency, the themes chosen for the meeting are the Middle East situation, Iran, and Russia.

During the first day of the meeting, the intention is to focus on the situation in the Middle East. The discussion over lunch is going to concentrate on assessing the situation in the region, particularly with a view to the relations between Israel and Lebanon, as well as the relations between Israel and the Palestinians. In the afternoon working session the discussion is going to be about the future of the Middle East peace process. The EU has emphasised its commitment to the promotion of a comprehensive peace process as well as co-operation with different parties in order to further this goal. The recent events also give a good reason for a thorough debate about what should be the elements of future action.

At the beginning of the second day, the meeting will handle the problems related to Iran's nuclear programme on the basis of a situation analysis drawn up by High Representative Javier Solana.

As concerns Russia, the handling of affairs is divided into two sessions. At first, the intention is to handle the possibilities and means available to the EU to influence development in Russia over a longer time span, and to analyse the development trends of the internal situation in Russia and its foreign policy. After this the topic of discussion will be the current agreement situation between the EU and Russia. Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner will introduce the subject for discussion.

There will be special programme arranged in Lappeenranta and its vicinity for spouses of ministers attending the meetings as well as the representatives of the media following the meeting. They have, for instance, an opportunity to see how the border control is arranged at the border between Finland and Russia, and to get acquainted with the local industry.

The name of the Gymnich meeting derives from the first informal meeting of the EC foreign ministers, organised in the castle of Gymnich outside of Bonn, in the Federal Republic of Germany in 1974.

Further information: Director General Petri Tuomi-Nikula, Department for Communication and Culture, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. 09 1605 5800, and Head of the Unit for European Common Foreign and Security Policy, European Correspondent Jarno Syrjälä, tel. 09 1605 5026