Federica Mogherini chairs 12th ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting
High Representative Federica Mogherini i on Thursday chaired the 12th ASEM Foreign Ministers' Meeting, hosted this year by Luxembourg.
This brought together 51 delegations, accounting for around 60% of global population, GDP and trade, to tackle a number of key issues on the international agenda: climate change, the sustainable development goals, and security both in Asia and around Europe.
"We are here because we believe that our future is at stake, our common future. We all believe that indeed we need to build our future together, and we can do it," Mogherini said.
"We have a great chance here, today and tomorrow, to build on the Sustainable Development Summit and to prepare the United Nations Climate Change Conference in a few weeks. We can and should underline our commitments towards a successful COP 21 in Paris."
Much of the meeting centred around the concept of connectivity: building networks, infrastructures for better connections between Europe and Asia, and within the two regions, not just for goods, but also for people on the move.
The day before the ministerial, the High Representative held a series of bilateral meetings with a number of Asian foreign ministers, and spoke at the ASEF Young Leaders' Summit.
EU relations with Asia have been a major priority during Mogherini's first year in office. She paid five visits to Asia, attended three bilateral Summits with Asian partners, attended the Shangri-La dialogue and the ASEAN Regional Forum in Kuala Lumpur.
"We are learning to cooperate on everything, from the easy to the most difficult issues: from migration to counter terrorism, from trade to our common values and our common objectives - among us and with Asia."
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