EU High Representative Federica Mogherini today welcomed Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to Brussels to launch the EU-Australia Leadership Forum.
The Forum is a unique project in the EU's suite of public diplomacy actions and demonstrates a shared commitment to the already strong bilateral relationship. Its overall aim is to broaden and deepen the existing ties and in so doing, help shape the vision for the partnership, based on the future EU-Australia Framework Agreement and forthcoming EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement.
The core of the project is the EU-Australia Senior Leaders Forum, a high level event to be held annually, alternately in Australia and in Europe. This will bring together key European and Australian leaders from Government and Opposition, business, media, education and civil society. It will provide input and ideas to diversify and intensify the relationship in key areas.
"We could not find a better time to launch this leadership forum because Europe and Australia are geographically very far away but we are working daily on so many issues as completely like-minded partners, real friends, with the same vision of the way in which the many crises of our time need to be resolved but also on the many opportunities that our relationship brings with it," Mogherini said.
"Specifically in these times when our Australian friends will need to see the Europeans determined and committed to our friendship more than ever and also on the European public opinion's side to strengthen this friendship in a practical way, I think that this leadership forum will offer us the opportunity to do so," she added.
"Especially after the results of the UK referendum, it is very important for us and for our friends in the world to re-state, re-commit, even re-launch, refresh our ties, our common work."
Link to the video: https://tvnewsroom.consilium.europa.eu/event/eu-australia/eu-australia-l...
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