In last week’s Riksdag debate on foreign policy, Carl Bildt highlighted the progress that the EU has made through the Eastern Partnership – a Sweden/Poland initiative, of which the UK has been a strong supporter.
That support will be seen in action this week when British Foreign Secretary Hague makes a joint visit to Moldova with Foreign Minister Bildt and Poland’s Foreign Minister Sikorski.
The visit comes at a sensitive political time in Moldova. The European message will be pursue an ambitious reform programme. Respect for human rights, combating corruption, and creating a stable, predictable and transparent business environment are all crucial to moving forward.
But before heading for Moldova our Foreign Ministers will meet on Monday in Brussels at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting. There they will have detailed discussions about many of today’s big issues, such as helping the people of Syria, countering the threat of proliferation and regional security arising from North Korea’s recent missile launch, and also the EU’s response to the Mali crisis.
This week, I too am travelling, including to talk about Britain’s views on the Future of Europe debate at Uppsala university.
