FM attends FAC meeting

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman 9 December 2019 in Brussels attended a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), chaired by the new EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles

Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman 9 December 2019 in Brussels attended a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), chaired by the new EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles.

The Council discussed EU-Africa relations and the new comprehensive strategy for Africa. “This is a European neighbourhood that is still very unstable, as evidenced by a large number of migrants trying to enter Europe. The EU is making great efforts through development aid and institution building to achieve long-term stability of the African continent”, Grlić Radman said.

Ahead of the Human Rights Day on 10 December, the ministers assessed the EU’s work on human rights, the instruments at its disposal and its priorities for the coming months. They announced a possible sanctions regime to address serious human rights violations.

The third part of the meeting dealt with improving the EU’s effectiveness in the international arena. “Since this was the first meeting with Borrell, it gave us an excellent opportunity to hear his views and suggestions and to present ours ahead of our EU presidency,” Grlić Radman told the press.

The minister also attended an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers with their counterparts from Albania and North Macedonia, chaired by the Greek foreign minister. Grlić Radman reiterated his regret that no decision had been reached on opening accession talks with the two countries. “I encouraged them to carry on with the reform efforts and emphasized that Croatia would work with the EU partners during its chairmanship to make headway before the Zagreb summit in May the next year,” he said.

Today and tomorrow, Grlić Radman is chairing for the first time the EU-Kirghizstan and Tajikistan Cooperation Council, whereby Croatia took the helm of the EU in the area of foreign policy.

 

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