Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail)
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59. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he will report on the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers that took place on 23 June 2025. [38051/25]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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On 23 June 2025, I attended a meeting of EU Foreign Affairs ministers, the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), in Brussels.

The FAC began with a discussion on Iran, which followed on from the extraordinary FAC meeting on the conflict between Israel and Iran via VTC on Tuesday 17 June. During these discussions, I joined colleagues in underlining the need for a diplomatic solution.

Ministers discussed Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, including how the EU can continue to support Ukraine and the importance of sanctions against Russia. On the Middle East, we discussed the latest developments in the conflict between Israel and Iran, the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, including the review of Israel’s compliance with its human rights obligations under Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and Libya. In addition to these items, we also discussed China, in preparation for the upcoming EU-China Strategic Dialogue and EU-China Summit, and developments in Georgia.

In my interventions, I emphasised the need to demonstrate our unity and collective backing for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression, especially in light of significant escalation in brutal Russian air attacks on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, the importance of maintaining pressure on Russia through EU sanctions, and the need for progress on opening negotiations with Ukraine on its EU accession.

I expressed our concern about the conflict between Israel and Iran and its impact on civilians, calling for urgent de-escalation and a return to dialogue and diplomacy. On the situation in Gaza, I called for an urgent ceasefire, release of hostages and humanitarian access at scale and urged the EU to take action in response to Israel's continuing blockade of aid entering Gaza. I drew attention to the concerning situation in the West Bank and the need for EU sanctions in response to extreme settlers. I welcomed the outcome of the review of Israel's compliance with its human rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement and called for concrete actions in response. Together with a number of other Member States, I called for a review of the EU's compliance with the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice of 19 July 2024. I also recalled the importance of the EU support for the role of UNIFIL in Lebanon.