Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade begins a two day visit to Germany
Press release
12 June 2018
The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney T.D., begins a two day visit to Germany this evening with a keynote address on “Ireland, Brexit and the Future of Europe” at the Foreign Policy Association of Munich. In Munich he will also have meetings with the State Minister at the German Foreign Office, Niels Annen, and the Bavarian Minister for Digital, Media and Europe, Georg Eisenreich.
In Berlin tomorrow (Wednesday, 13 June) he will call on the President of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, after a roundtable discussion hosted by the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Later he will discuss the opening of an Irish Consulate next year in Frankfurt with the Minister for European and Federal Affairs of the State of Hesse before meetings with the European Affairs Committee of the Budestag and members of the German-Irish Parliamentary friendship Group, where he is expected to brief parliamentarians on Brexit. He will also meet separately with the leader of the FDP (Liberals) Party, Christian Lindner.
The Tánaiste’s keynote address at the Humboldt University in Berlin will be part of the prestigious “Humboldt Speeches on Europe” series, and will focus on strengthening relations between Ireland and Germany and the wider European agenda. The visit will conclude with a reception at the Embassy of Ireland for the Irish community, where the Tánaiste will launch the official report on the Comprehensive Review of Bilateral Relations with Germany.
Prior to departure the Tánaiste said:
“Germany is an indispensable partner. Work on implementing the recommendations of our joint action plan on the development of bilateral relations is underway, and I am looking forward to discussing one of the key recommendations with the Minister for European and Federal Affairs of the State of Hesse, namely the opening next year of our new Consulate in Frankfurt. I greatly appreciate the solidarity on Brexit demonstrated by Germany. There is a strong parliamentary focus to this visit, and I will be briefing members of the Bundestag on the state-of-play in the negotiations ahead of the European Council later this month.”
ENDS
Press Office
12 June 2018
