Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias will be in Brussels on Monday, 18 May, to participate in a meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), according to a Foreign ministry’s announcement.

The FAC proceedings will begin with a joint working breakfast of the Defence and Foreign Affairs Ministers of the EU member states – with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in attendance – on the subject of security challenges and EU-NATO cooperation in the Eastern and Southern Neighbourhoods, and particularly in Syria, Iraq and Ukraine.

The working breakfast will be followed by a joint session of the Defence and Foreign Affairs Ministers of the EU member states, the agenda for which includes preparations for the June European Council on Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and the discussion regarding the Revision of European Security Strategy.

Subsequently, with the participation of the European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship, Dimitris Avramopoulos, there will be an in-depth discussion of the European policy on migration and the planning for operation “EUNAVFOR MED” in the southern central Mediterranean, in the context of CSDP.

Finally, the FAC meeting will look at the recent developments in FYROM and Burundi, as well as at the Middle East peace process. More specifically, in light of the agreement on the formation of a government in Israel, the FAC will assess the prospects for reopening of direct negotiations and look at what role the EU can play.