This week: from bilateral meetings in Brussels to the Munich Security Conference

Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, chaired the Commissioners Group on External Action, attended the Commission College meeting and NATO Defence Ministerial as well as hosted several bilateral meetings, during a busy week in Brussels.

On Tuesday, Mogherini met Anote Tong, President of Kiribati. The country of Kiribati, a country made up of several atolls in the middle of the Pacific. President Tong was visiting Brussels to raise awareness on climate change, which is threatening the very existence of Kiribati. Mogherini also welcomed Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Later in the week, Mogherini attended her first NATO Ministerial. Upon her arrival, Mogherini stressed that there's "a sense of coordination and common work between the EU and NATO, as the security in our region is more and more challenging. A need for working together is growing even more and the nature of the threats that we're facing is mixed."

On the occasion of the International Day against Female Genital Mutilation

on February 6th, Mogherini, together with Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Vĕra Jourová i, and Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica i, issued a joint statement to raise awareness of this harmful practise. "Today, as well as all over the year, we join our voices to say: Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation in Europe and worldwide. Like other harmful practices, Female Genital Mutilation locks women and girls in a value system that is both unequal and detrimental to development and harmful to society as a whole. Estimates show that there might be as many as 125 million victims worldwide and 500,000 victims in the EU alone," the statement underlined.

Mogherini meets with US Vice-President Joe Biden on Friday together with President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Junker. She will also participate at the Munich Security Conference this weekend.

Topics

Human Rights,

Kiribati,

United States of America