2nd February 2012 London, UK
On 22 January the people of Croatia made history by making a clear choice in favour of joining the European Union. The finishing line of 1 July 2013 is in sight, and Croatia is on course to become the 28th member of the EU, after it first applied nine years ago. The next step is […]
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24th January 2012 London, UK
I have just attended the January meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels and have been reflecting on how the collective weight of EU members can be harnessed to promote the UK’s national prosperity and security. For example, at the December meeting, the Foreign Secretary discussed with all our European Union partners how […]
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23rd January 2012 London, UK
This week is a big week for the UK in Strasbourg. We are 11 weeks into our 6 month Chairmanship of the Council of Europe. We are pressing ahead with our wide-ranging Chairmanship priorities, in particular our ambitious package of reforms for the European Court of Human Rights (the Court). The Council of Europe was […]
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7th December 2011 London, UK
I commend the Lithuanian Chairmanship in Office which has pursued a challenging agenda for the OSCE this year and I hope this Ministerial Council will both consolidate their excellent efforts and commit to realising future positive change across the OSCE area and beyond. I take a very keen interest in what has been happening in […]
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10th November 2011 London, UK
I was in the Netherlands earlier this week, my second visit as Minister for Europe. The UK and the Netherlands have a strong working relationship; the aim of my visit was to deepen bilateral and multilateral co-operation in the many areas where our views are closely aligned. As well as the important trade relations the […]
13th October 2011 London, UK
The Foreign Secretary has today made a statement to Parliament which explains the Government’s first use of the European Union Act 2011. This use of the Act is required by the proposed treaty change to enable Eurozone countries to set up the European Stability Mechanism, which aims to secure economic stability in the Eurozone countries […]
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22nd September 2011 London, UK
This was my first visit to Portugal as Europe Minister. As well as being one of Europe (and the world’s) oldest alliances, the relationship between the UK and Portugal is based on close trade and economic links. During my visit I was pleased to meet several top Portuguese investors all of whom have interests in […]
16th September 2011 London, UK
During my visit to Oslo this week, I was reminded of the strength and depth of our relationship with Norway, and the wide range of issues where we have shared interests. The UK and Norway are partners in NATO in Afghanistan, we have a longstanding energy relationship, and a common interest in developing regional trade. […]
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9th June 2011 London, UK
This week I made my first visit to Sarajevo, where I met members of the Presidency, the Speaker and members of Parliament as well as young people involved in the arts, business and civil society. I was there to underline our concern at the lack of political progress since the general elections last year. We […]
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7th April 2011 London, UK
After starting the week in Washington where I discussed the shared European and US economic and security interests with senior US officials and opinion formers, I travelled to the UN in New York. As it was my first visit as a Foreign Office Minister I wanted to find out how the UK team works to […]