Foreign Secretary’s meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock: 10 December 2021

A spokesperson from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said:

The Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was delighted to meet new German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Liverpool ahead of the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting and congratulated her on her appointment.

She reiterated the importance of the UK-Germany partnership.

The Ministers agreed on the importance of defending and advancing freedom and democracy and the need to stand up to autocratic regimes that threaten the free world.

They discussed a number of priorities including the importance of the G7 countries presenting a united front in the face of Russia’s ongoing threat to Ukraine.

Both agreed on a shared ambition for a pragmatic solution to issues around the Northern Ireland Protocol that works for the people of Northern Ireland.

On migration both said it was a global problem that required the breaking up of human trafficking gangs and upstream development investment to tackle the drivers of migration.

Minister Baerbock thanked the Foreign Secretary for the UK’s ambitious programme during its presidency of the G7. The Foreign Secretary said she was handing over the baton and looked forward to working closely with the Foreign Minister during Germany’s G7 presidency next year.