February 26, 1999 (2:15 p.m. EST) No. 42

GERMAN VICE-CHANCELLOR AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER

AND EUROPEAN COMMISSION VICE-PRESIDENT

TO VISIT CANADA TO ENHANCE CANADA-GERMANY AND CANADA-EU RELATIONS

Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy today announced the visit to Canada on March 1 of Joschka Fischer, Vice-Chancellor and Foreign Affairs Minister of Germany and President of the Council of Ministers of the European Union (EU), and of Sir Leon Brittan, Vice-President of the European Commission. Mr. Axworthy and his German counterpart will take part in a bilateral Canada-Germany meeting and in a Canada-EU meeting, the latter involving the participation of Sir Leon Brittan.

"Canada's relations with Germany are based on a commonality of values and priorities," said Mr. Axworthy. "This compatibility translates not only in our ability to develop, adopt and implement joint and parallel policies, for example, with respect to landmines, but also in our ability to co-operate within multilateral fora such as NATO, the UN and the G-8."

The bilateral meeting between Ministers Axworthy and Fischer will focus on a range of bilateral and multilateral issues including: the upcoming G-8 meeting in Köln, Germany; the upcoming NATO summit; Canadian priorities at the UN Security Council; international peacekeeping; the Middle East Peace Process and economic reforms in Ukraine.

With respect to the Canada-EU meeting, Mr. Axworthy stated, "Given our similar approaches to conflict resolution, Canada and the EU can do much together to help in the demining of former war zones and the safe development of microdisarmament procedures, which can help stem the flow of small arms to war-afflicted regions of the world."

In the context of the Canada-EU transatlantic ministerial meeting, Ministers Axworthy and Fischer and Sir Leon Brittan will focus on co-operation on human security issues such as small arms and landmines, and conflict situations in Kosovo and in Africa. The status of Canada-EU relations and objectives for the next Canada-EU Summit will also be raised.

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For further information, media representatives may contact:

Debora Brown

Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs

(613) 995-1851

Media Relations Office

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(613) 995-1874