Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the address by Ms Annalena Baerbock, Germany's Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on 24 January 2023.
The UK welcomes Foreign Minister Baerbock's attendance at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and the address she held with the delegates. The UK and Germany are the closest of partners. At the UK-Germany Strategic Dialogue on 5 January 2023, the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and Foreign Minister Baerbock committed to increasing cooperation on a range of joint priorities including our commitment to upholding human rights standards. We look forward to the Council of Europe Summit in May which will be a good opportunity to re-invigorate the Council of Europe.