Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will depart for Liverpool this afternoon; from there, she will travel on to Brussels on Sunday (12 December).

In Liverpool, Foreign Minister Baerbock will participate in the meeting of G7 Foreign Ministers that is being hosted by the United Kingdom. The G7 Presidency, which is held by the UK this year, will pass on to Germany on 1 January 2022. At the conference, Foreign Minister Baerbock will present the German Presidency’s priorities.

During a number of working sessions on Saturday and Sunday, G7 representatives will address various geopolitical and security issues, including the relationship vis‑à‑vis China and Russia, developments in Iran and the situation in Afghanistan. They will also discuss economic and social issues, global health and the climate crisis. During some of these sessions, the G7 Ministers responsible for development cooperation will be contributing to the discussions. On Sunday, the G7 meeting will be hosting, as special guests, the Foreign Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This exchange with ASEAN Ministers as well as the Foreign Ministers of Australia, South Korea and India will focus on, among other things, cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, global health security and gender equality.

In the margins of the conference in Liverpool, a number of bilateral talks are scheduled between Foreign Minister Baerbock and her counterparts. These include US Secretary of State Blinken and UK Foreign Minister Truss.

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Baerbock will travel on to Brussels, where she will first meet for bilateral talks with President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. Her exchange with the President of the European Commission will focus on current European and foreign policy issues.

On Monday (13 December), Foreign Minister Baerbock will take part in her first monthly meeting of EU Foreign Ministers. Immediately before the Council meeting on Monday, Foreign Minister Baerbock will attend an informal breakfast at which energy policy will be discussed, and to which Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, has been invited. The agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council includes, among other topics, EU engagement in and with Africa and an exchange of views on the situation in the countries of Central Asia as well as in Venezuela. Current foreign policy issues will also be discussed, including EU‑Turkey relations, having regard to Varosha, the situation between Ukraine and Russia, as well as the situation in Ethiopia and at the EU’s external border with Belarus. The EU Foreign Ministers will also meet with the Foreign Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al‑Thani, at which they will discuss cooperation between the EU and Qatar, especially with regard to Afghanistan.