Hon Murray McCully

Minister of Foreign Affairs

12 August 2016

Minister McCully to visit Europe

Foreign Minister Murray McCully will travel to Europe next week to visit the United Kingdom, Slovakia, France, Hungary, and Russia.

“Slovakia is the current European Union President and this visit is an opportunity to meet with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajčák, and gain his perspective on the early discussions around Brexit,” Mr McCully says.

“In London I will hold introductory talks with the new UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. This is my first chance to meet with him and we will look to cover a range of issues including our mutual trade and economic interests and the broader relationship between our two countries.

“The UK, France, and Russia are permanent members of the UN Security Council and my meetings with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault will focus on New Zealand’s upcoming presidency of the Security Council.

“In Hungary I will meet Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. The relationship between New Zealand and the countries of central Europe is of growing importance and we will discuss our aspiration to open Free Trade Agreement negotiations with the EU, among other issues,” Mr McCully says.

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