Gymnich in Cyprus to focus on Syria, water and education

CNA has learnt that during the first day of the Meeting, EU Foreign Ministers will discuss about water issues (water resources under a foreign policy angle) and education (importance of education in countries affected by conflicts or countries undergoing a transition to democracy).

The second and final day of Meeting will focus on the situation in Syria.

The informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers is usually held once every six months in the member state which holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The meeting, which is also known as the "Gymnich", named after the castle in Germany where the first meeting was held during the German Presidency of the EU Council in 1974, is informal and as such no Conclusions are adopted . This enables the EU Foreign Ministers to discuss freely current EU`s foreign policy issues. Gymnich is chaired by High Representative of the EU for Foreign affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton.

The Meeting will also be attended by EU Commissioner Andris Piebalgs
(Development) and Androulla Vassiliou (Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth).

So far more than 200 journalists have been accredited to cover the Informal Meeting of Foreign Ministers.