Minister of Foreign Affairs concludes successful visit to Europe

February 19, 2017 - Ottawa, Ontario - Global Affairs Canada

The Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today concluded a successful working visit to Europe, which took place from February 16 to 19, 2017.

Earlier in the week, the Minister joined the Prime Minister for his historic address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, after she met with Antonio Tajani, President of the European Parliament, and Cecilia Malmström, European Commissioner for Trade.

While attending the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Bonn, Germany, the Minister met with Germany’s Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sigmar Gabriel, and participated in a working session on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, among other discussions. The Minister took the opportunity to meet with many counterparts, such as Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, and foreign ministers from the United Kingdom, Turkey, France and South Africa. At the G20, the Minister also met with the foreign minister from Italy, this year’s G7 host, and discussed Canada’s upcoming G7 presidency.

Later, the Minister joined the Prime Minister in Berlin and Hamburg, where they participated in bilateral meetings with Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, and discussed key foreign policy and trade priorities for Canada and Germany, including the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). In Hamburg, the Canadian delegation attended the annual St. Matthew’s Day banquet, where the Prime Minister was a guest of honour.

The visit concluded with the Minister’s attendance at the Munich Security Conference, where she participated in working sessions on several issues, among others, global governance, international security challenges—including the situations in Syria and Ukraine—and transatlantic cooperation. The Minister delivered the keynote at a gathering of women leaders and separately participated in a panel on global cooperation in an era of protectionism, both on February 18. In Munich, the Minister also held bilateral discussions with Ukraine’s President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sweden’s Foreign Minister, NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, and her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. This was the Minister’s first bilateral meeting with China’s foreign minister, and the two discussed ways to create a stronger, more stable long-term relationship following the Prime Minister’s visit to China and Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Canada.