Raad Buitenlandse Zaken komt bijeen in Brussel (en)

On 16 December in Brussels the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius will attend the Foreign Affairs Council meeting. This will be the first Council meeting after the 3rd Eastern Partnership Summit, which took place in Vilnius on November 28-29. The ministers will discuss the follow-up of the Summit and the situation in Ukraine.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov will join the Ministers at working lunch to discuss the key issues of the bilateral EU - Russia relationship as well as the international agenda.

The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton i will brief the Foreign Ministers on the latest round of the E3/EU+3 and Iran talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme and the results of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue.

The Ministers will debate the Middle East Peace Process and the agreement reached between the European Union and Israel on Israel’s participation in the EU Horizon 2020 programme. The Council will review the preparations for the Geneva II conference on Syria, the current political situation in Lebanon and the Central African Republic.