"We will have very important topics of discussion in these two days", said the HRVP Federica Mogherini, talking to the press before the meeting. The debate on Turkey among the 28 ministers will prepare the meeting with EU Minister of Turkey, Ömer Çelik, tomorrow morning. "It will be the first occasion for all EU Foreign Ministers to meet him after the dramatic events of the attempted coup last July that the European Union condemned immediately in the strongest possible way", Mogherini underlined, "it will also be a chance to convey to him the united European message on how we see future engagement with the country. And it will also prepare the ground for the High Level Political Dialogue between the European Union and Turkey that will take place next week in Ankara".

On Ukraine, "I will put on the table on how the European Union can contribute more to the full implementation of the Minsk agreements", said the HRVP.

The Global Strategy too is due to be discussed on the first day of the Gymnich: "Today I will present to the Ministers my proposal on the implementation of the Global Strategy we adopted last summer, in particular in the field of security and defence," Mogherini unveiled, "I know that there are high expectations among our citizens and among our leaders on how to increase the capabilities of the European Union, including on the security of our citizens and on our contribution to peace and security in the world."

On the second day (Saturday) of the meeting "we will have with the Ministers of all candidate countries an exchange on how to prevent and counter radicalisation both of our citizens and others in the world", Mogherini went on, "we have moved from an approach where we discuss with our candidate countries our bilateral relations to a moment where we tackle together our common challenges."

The meeting is being held in Bratislava, Slovakia which currently holds the rotating Presidency of the EU.