Media Release
FA11 / 25 January 2002
Visit to the UK, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Poland
and Russia
I will travel to the UK, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Poland and
Russia from 27 January to 8 February. During the visit
I will pursue bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of concern
to Australia, with senior Commonwealth and European leaders.
A key theme of my meetings will be the global security outlook,
international cooperation against terrorism and reconstruction
in Afghanistan.
In London, from 28 to 30 January, I will attend meetings of the
Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) and the Commonwealth
Ministerial Committee on terrorism. Discussion will focus
respectively on the Commonwealth response to developments in Zimbabwe
and practical measures the Commonwealth can take to further international
cooperation to combat terrorism.
In Spain, from 30 January to 1 February, I will meet Foreign Minister
Josep Piqué in Madrid in his capacity as representative of the Presidency
of the European Union. The EU Commissioner for External Relations,
Chris Patten, will also attend these talks, which will cover international
security issues and major developments in our respective regions.
These discussions, which are part of my regular dialogue with each
EU Presidency, will also review Australia’s relations with the European
Union, our major trade and investment partner.
In Madrid I will launch an Aboriginal art exhibition, Ramingining,
at the Reina Sofia Museum. I will address members of the
Spanish business community on the advantages of Australia as a trade
and investment partner in the Asia Pacific region. I will
also address an audience of business and government representatives
and students at the Australian Studies Centre at the University
of Barcelona on the theme of Australia, Spain and the Asia Pacific.
In Germany, from 1 to 3 February, I will attend the annual Munich
Security Conference and participate in a panel discussion on global
security issues with ministers, defence officials, members of parliament
and experts from around the world.. During the conference,
I also plan to meet the Secretary-General of the Council of the
European Union and High Representative for Common Foreign and Security
Policy, Dr Javier Solana, to exchange perspectives on international
and regional strategic issues.
In Switzerland from 3 to 4 February, I will hold talks in Geneva
with the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson on a
range of multilateral and bilateral human rights issues. I
will also meet with UNHCR to discuss Australia’s efforts to combat
people smuggling in our region and international cooperation on
refugee issues.
From 4 to 5 February, I will visit Warsaw, Poland, for meetings
with the Prime Minister, Leszek Miller, and Foreign Minister, Wlodsimierz
Cimoszewicz. The visit is timely given Poland’s forthcoming
accession to the European Union when it will become one of the largest
markets within the EU. In addition to discussions on EU matters,
I will also focus on Australia’s growing commercial links, increasingly
close cooperation in areas of common interest in international security
and political issues and the active role of the Polish community
in Australia in promoting bilateral ties.
I will visit Russia from 5 to 6 February at the invitation of the
Russian Foreign Minister, Igor Ivanov. This will be the first
visit by an Australian Minister since the inauguration of President
Putin and his Government. I will hold discussions on the range
of Australia’s interests with Russia with key Ministers including
the Defence and Foreign Ministers with a focus on international
security matters. Australia and Russia have shared interests
in many aspects of the global security environment, not least due
to our joint participation in the war against terrorism. The recent
conclusion of a Space Cooperation Agreement is symbolic of the new,
diversified and value-added basis we are building for our trade
relations in the 21st century.
Local Date:
Saturday, 06-Dec-2008 03:51:21 EST
