Opening Remarks - Bilateral meeting with European leaders

Speech
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
Prime Minister

ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thank you very much. It's very good to meet both of you again. And it's been a very constructive discussion that we've been having at the G20 informally and it's good to now have a formal bilateral meeting between us. Australia has such strong ties with Europe. Indeed, we have a Prime Minister with a name like Albanese, and we have a large diaspora in Australia from throughout Europe. So we remain very strong friends. I hope that today we're able to progress the discussion that we've been having about an Australian-EU Free Trade Agreement. It will be very important for Europe and important for Australia in expanding the economic opportunities which are there.

Can I also comment on the tragic news that we have had from Poland. Russia's missile attacks on Ukraine overnight are deeply concerning. Russia's reckless and dangerous use of force promote danger for the entire region, and we've seen that overnight. I send my condolences to Poland on the loss of life. As Secretary General Stoltenberg and President Biden have said, we need to have a full investigation as to how this has occurred and the circumstances. That must take place, and then we should consider what as an international community is an appropriate response.