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Key Points
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet with world leaders on the side of the G7 summit.
- He is set to hold his first face-to-face meeting with US president Donald Trump.
- Albanese’s ministers will consider a request from the EU for a formal defence partnership.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will task senior ministers to move forward on consideration of the request from the European Union to create a formal security and defence partnership.
The invitation was extended by EU President Ursula von der Leyen during talks with Albanese in Rome in May.
Albanese has asked Foreign Minister Penny Wong and deputy prime minister Richard Marles to take the work further.
Trade Minister Don Farrell told SBS News earlier this month that officials had been dispatched to Brussels to begin formal conversations about the defence and security proposal.
European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen. Source: AAP
Albanese told reporters in Calgary at the Canadian G7 Summit that he would meet with von der Leyen in the coming days.
“One of the things that I’ve said consistently is that we invest in our capability and we invest in our relationships. The two things are important,” he said.
“An investment in our relationships can produce very effective outcomes economically as well.”
Albanese met with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and said the two countries shared similar views on climate change and the impact it is having on both countries.
Albanese spoke about recent wildfires in Canada.
“Just as Canada has always helped Australia, there were over 200 Canadian firefighters in Australia during that terrible period of 2019-2020. And we share resources,” he said.
“Increasingly, the impact of climate change means that our seasons are overlapping, so that’s becoming more and more difficult.
“But it is possible as well that we learn off each other and our firefighters respectively get skills to then be able to implement back in our respective home countries.”
Albanese is expected to hold his first face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 meeting.
