Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos will be the host of the Informal “Gymnich” Meeting of European Union Foreign Ministers, which is taking place within the framework of the Greek Presidency of the Council of the EU, on 4 and 5 April 2014, at the Zappeion Megaron, in Athens.



The first day of the Meeting will focus on developments in the European Union’s Southern and Eastern Neighbourhoods – with emphasis on the situation in Ukraine and Syria – and on the Union’s relations with its strategic partners.



The Greek Presidency will welcome in Strasbourg on 17-19 March 2014 the 27th Joint Parliamentary Assembly between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States on the one hand and the European Union on the other.

On Thursday 27 and Friday 28 February 2014, the Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) met in Athens under the chairmanship of Notis Mitarachi, Deputy Minister for Development and Competitiveness of the Hellenic Republic. During the Council a constructive discussion of all key aspects of the EU foreign trade agenda took place.

The informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers took place on 20 and 21 February in Athens, chaired by Greek Minister of National Defence Dimitris Avramopoulos on behalf of EU High Representative Catherine Ashton. It consisted of three working sessions dedicated respectively to the follow up to the European Council on security and defence, ongoing EU operations, and the situation in the Central African Republic. The NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and the UN Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Herve Ladsous attended parts of the meeting.