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Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney T.D. will attend Foreign Affairs Council on Monday (9 December) in Brussels, where EU Foreign Ministers will discuss EU-Africa relations and human rights issues.

EU Foreign Ministers will also exchange views with the incoming High Representative and Vice President of the Commission, Josep Borrell, who will chair the Foreign Affairs Council for the first time since his appointment.

Speaking ahead of the meeting the Tánaiste stated:

My EU colleagues and I look forward to hearing from the new HR/VP on his priorities and plans for his five-year term, as well as discussing how we can make the EU’s external action more effective. At the meeting, I will also brief EU Foreign Ministers and HR/VP Borrell on my recent visit to Israel and Palestine.

We will discuss EU-Africa relations in preparation for the upcoming EU-African Union ministerial meetings and summit in 2020, as well as the proposal for a new Africa Strategy which is a priority of the new Commission and which Ireland strongly supports.

We will also discuss the promotion and protection of human rights in the world, ahead of marking Human Rights Day on 10 November. The discussion will consider the EU's work on human rights in addition to its priorities on this issue for the coming months. Ireland attaches great importance to the EU’s role as a global champion of human rights.