EU Ambassador Pedro Serrano made his first visit to Cardiff, Wales on Tuesday 21 March. It was a joint visit with the ambassadors of Slovenia, Slovakia and the High Commissioner of Cyprus. The group of ambassadors received a very warm welcome by their Welsh hosts and held a series of useful and instructive meetings.

In a meeting with First Minister Mark Drakeford, they discussed UK and Welsh politics, devolution, youth mobility and EU citizens living in Wales. The First Minister expressed his appreciation of the EU’s continued engagement with Wales, both through the EU Delegation and member state embassies.

The ambassadors met with members of the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) including representatives of committees dealing with devolved matters in the treaties governing EU-UK relations. They were also given a tour of the impressive Senedd building by the Presiding Officer (Llywydd), Elin Jones.

The ambassadors were hosted by the Irish Consul General, Denise McQuade, who spoke about the important relationship between Wales and the Republic of Ireland. They also met with EU citizens’ support organisations including Settled, TGP Cymru and immigration lawyers from Newfields Law, and with the management team of Taith, Wales’ international exchange programme. For their last meeting, the ambassadors visited Cardiff university and discussed student exchanges and research cooperation with senior university management.