Press Releases

Dear President Lee, let me thank you for travelling to Brussels to participate in the eleventh Summit between the European Union and the Republic of Korea. I hope you will agree that our successful meetings made it worth the long journey. Today, during our Summit we advanced the Strategic Partnership between the European Union and the Republic of Korea even further, strengthening our cooperatio...
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President of the European Council, António Costa, President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and President of Republic of Korea, Lee Jae Myung, met in Brussels on 10 June 2026 for the 11th summit between the European Union and Republic of Korea. During the summit, the leaders issued a joint statement. Joint statement of the 11th EU-Republic of Korea summit   ...
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The press briefing ahead of the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council (Health) will take place on Friday, 12 June 2026 at 15.30. This briefing will be "off the record". The press briefing will take place in a hybrid format: EU accredited journalists will be able to participate and ask questions either remotely or in person at the Europa Building press room. To attend...
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Thanks for inviting me to participate in the opening of the New European Bauhaus Festival, a decisive initiative launched by President Ursula von der Leyen. In April 2021, during Portugal’s Council Presidency, I took part in the first iteration of this event, at that time taking place virtually, due to the pandemic restrictions – a long time ago! So, it brings me great joy to join you now in pe...
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Dear Helen, thank you for having us here in Dublin today, just a few weeks before you start your Presidency. Your Presidency priorities reflect exactly what Europe needs: defending our values, strengthening our security, and boosting our competitiveness. Europe must remain a principled global actor. But principles alone are not enough. Europe must also have the hard power to defend them. That me...
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Indicative programme 14:00 - Arrival of President Lee Jae Myung and Official welcome by President Costa and President von der Leyen (photo opportunity) 14:15 - Plenary session (photo opportunity) 15:30 - Restricted session 16:15 - Signing ceremony (photo opportunity) +/- 16:40 - Public statements by President Costa, President Lee Jae Myung and President von der Leyen in the Europa building pr...
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High Representative/Vice-President (HR/VP) Kaja Kallas will travel to Dublin, Ireland, today, 9 June. The HR/VP will meet separately with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Defence, Helen McEntee and Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence, Thomas Byrne. In the afternoon, the HR/VP will hold a joint press conference with Minister McEntee a...
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The meeting is not over yet, so we are still ongoing. But it is good to be in Cyprus. Thank you, Vasilis, for hosting us here, and the Defence Ministers also yesterday. Let me start with the support for Ukraine. On the battlefield, time no longer works in Russia's favour. Putin is losing money, men, and momentum. That is precisely why Russia is escalating its attacks on Ukrainian civilians. ...
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Brussels, 8 June 2026 – New results clarify that low-temperature CO2-H2O co-electrolysis in an anion exchange membrane (AEM) cell can reliably convert around 70% of the electrical current into carbon-based products, while maintaining stable operation in long-duration testing (>800 hours at 300mA/cm2). This is a key step toward making CO2 electrolysis more industrially relevant, because it coupl...
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Good morning, Good to be in Cyprus again. So today we have a busy agenda. First, we start with Ukraine. We are talking about what more can we do to help Ukraine. Also, how to really make our defence industries work together. This is something that ministers will discuss. We have different proposals on the table as well, what we can take forward. Then, of course, Strait of Hormuz. Ov...
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