Austrian Minister Sebastian Kurz appointed to lead EPP Foreign Affairs Ministerial Meeting together with Elmar Brok, Chair of Foreign Affairs Committee in the EP
The President of the European People’s Party (EPP), Joseph Daul, announced today the appointment of Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs, as the new co-chair of the EPP Foreign Ministers Meeting, alongside Elmar Brok, chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament. President Daul stated:
“I warmly thank Sebastian Kurz, who agreed to take on the responsibility of co-chairing the EPP Foreign Affairs Ministerial Meeting. While being the youngest Foreign Minister in Europe, Sebastian Kurz is very experienced and dynamic and is someone who has also been very active in the EPP in his previous roles; he has always shown great commitment to our political family.
I am convinced that Elmar Brok and Sebastian Kurz together will form an excellent team and continue the successful work of our political family in this extremely important time. It is crucial for Europe to play a leading role in our globalised world in order to face challenges like ISIS and the crisis in Ukraine. The EPP Foreign Affairs Ministerial Meetings are instrumental in promoting the EPP’s values and positions not only in Europe but also world-wide.
I would also like to thank Radosław Sikorski, who became Speaker of the Polish Parliament, for his extraordinary work and extremely valuable contributions over the past year as co-chair of the EPP Foreign Affairs Ministerial Meetings.”
Minister Kurz added that “it is a great honour and responsibility to take over this position in such challenging times for Europe. I look forward to working with Elmar Brok, one of the most experienced EU politicians in the field of foreign affairs.”
Elmar Brok also welcomed the future cooperation with Sebastian Kurz:
“Today’s challenges call for a new united and deeply grounded EU policy which speaks with one voice in order to defend EU values and develop an active European strategy for a global order. Europe’s foreign policy is always acting too late.”
Sebastian Kurz first became Austrian Secretary of State for Integration in April 2011 and, since 2013, has been Minister for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs. He was also chair of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers until May 2014. Following the proposal of Minister Kurz, Vienna is currently hosting talks on the Iranian nuclear programme. He is also President of the youth organisation of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) since 2009 and vice-chairman of the ÖVP.
The EPP Foreign Affairs Ministerial Meeting is part of a series of EPP ministerial meetings, which also includes EcoFin, Energy, General Affairs, Employment, Agriculture, Labour and Social Affairs, Defence, Justice and Home Affairs, Environment and Transport, all of which are organised and coordinated by the EPP from its Brussels headquarters. The EPP ministerial meetings underpin the horizontal activity of the party with all the main EU institutions including the EU Council.
Note to editors:
The EPP is the largest and most influential European-level political party of the centre-right, which currently includes 78 member-parties from 39 countries, the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, 12 EU and 6 non-EU heads of state and government, 14 members of the European Commission and the largest Group in the European Parliament
The EPP is the largest and most influential European-level political party of the centre-right, which currently includes 78 member-parties from 39 countries, the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council, 12 EU and 6 non-EU heads of state and government, 14 members of the European Commission and the largest Group in the European Parliament
For more information:
Javier Jiménez, EPP Director of Press and Communications, Tel. +32-475480446