Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Marija Pejčinović Burić 21 January 2019 in Brussels attended a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council and a ministerial meeting of the EU-ASEAN.
The Council discussed disinformation, as well as the EU-LAS and EU-ASEAN relations. The Council expressed strong support for the joint action plan against disinformation of December 2018. The ministers exchanged views on the implementation of the action plan, focusing on its external aspects. They underlined the need to build a common and holistic response to the security challenges posed by foreign interference and stressed the importance of contributing to strengthening the resilience of neighbouring countries. The ministers underscored the need to engage with civil society to tackle disinformation, as well as to work with international partners, in particular NATO and the G7, to address disinformation more efficiently.
In the broader context of foreign interference, hybrid threats and strategic communication, Croatia places special importance on the three strategic communication task forces of the European External Action Service, which were set up in order to promote fact-based narratives about the EU in the Eastern neighbourhood, the Southern neighbourhood and the Western Balkans.
The Council had a preparatory discussion for the EU-LAS ministerial meeting to be held in Brussels on 4 February 2019, ahead of the first EU-LAS summit scheduled on 24 and 25 February 2019 Egypt. The ministers reaffirmed the importance of a strong EU-LAS partnership and discussed the need to cooperate with the LAS in addressing common challenges such as regional issues, terrorism, migration, and climate change.
The 22nd EU-ASEAN ministerial meeting saw ministers discussing cooperation on regional and international issues, including global challenges such as climate change and strengthening the rule-based multilateral system. They addressed priority areas for 2019 such as enhanced security cooperation, including counterterrorism, transnational crime, maritime security and cybersecurity. They also discussed how to strengthen EU-ASEAN cooperation on connectivity.
The Council also briefly reviewed the main pressing issues on the international agenda, including the situation in Congo, Venezuela and Syria.