ENGLAND / EU – The United Kingdom secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth and development affairs, David Lammy MP, and the EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell, met Monday ahead of attending the EU Foreign Affairs Council to exchange views with EU foreign affairs ministers on shared security challenges facing Europe.
The foreign secretary and the high representative reiterated their ironclad commitment to maintain support to Ukraine as it defends its freedom and sovereignty against Russian aggression; and their condemnation of third-country support to Russia’s military.
They shared their deep concern about spiralling violence in the Middle East and call for an immediate ceasefire across the Israel-Lebanon border; and in Gaza for the release of all hostages, unhindered access for humanitarian aid and renewed focus on a two-State solution. They underline their unwavering support to UNIFIL’s role. It is vital that peacekeepers and civilians are protected. They fully support UNIFIL’s work in South Lebanon, which is mandated in UN Resolution 1701.
They condemn Iranian attacks on Israel and its supply of ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine and are committed to sanction Iran’s regime on that account.
In the light of a difficult geopolitical context, the high representative and the foreign secretary reaffirmed the importance of the relationship between the European Union and the United Kingdom for European security and defence and agreed to advance work towards a security partnership to address common threats and challenges.
They underlined the importance and value of regular exchanges and the need for the EU and the UK to stand together as close partners in security and defence. High Representative Borrell and UK foreign secretary Lammy agreed during their meeting that the UK and EU will establish a six-monthly foreign policy dialogue between the UK foreign secretary and the EU high representative for foreign affairs, to enable strategic cooperation on the highest priority issues and first meeting in early 2025. In addition, they also agreed to a number of regular UK-EU strategic consultations to sit underneath this on Russia/Ukraine, the Indo-Pacific, the Western Balkans and Hybrid threats.
In the face of an increasingly volatile and unstable world, the time is right for friends to stand together in partnership and work together on our shared foreign policy and security challenges.