Ireland - Jean-Noël Barrot’s meeting with Ms Helen McEntee, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence (29 January 2026)

M. Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, had a meeting with his Irish counterpart, Helen McEntee, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Minister for Defence, in Paris on Wednesday 28 January.

Building on the regular dialogue between France and Ireland, the two ministers reaffirmed their desire to continue strengthening a close bilateral relationship based on trust and increasingly diversified cooperation projects. The ministers therefore signed the France-Ireland Joint Strategic Framework, which will govern our relations until 2030. This ambitious framework recalls our two countries’ resolute commitment within the European Union and their active efforts to bring about a fair, safe and sustainable global environment.

Less than six months before the start of the Irish presidency of the Council of the European Union, the ministers reaffirmed their desire to coordinate closely to make the EU more competitive, sovereign and resilient, committed to its values and its security. France, Ireland’s closest neighbour in the European Union, welcomed the state of progress of the Irish presidency’s programme.

The two ministers reaffirmed their resolute and lasting support for Ukraine, particularly within the Coalition of the Willing, and called for pressure to be maintained on Russia with a view to a ceasefire being reached. On the Middle East, they shared their analysis of the worrying situation in Iran and discussed the start of the second phase of the Gaza peace plan and the need to improve the humanitarian situation, and their support for Lebanon. The two ministers also spoke about Greenland; they reiterated that it is for Denmark and Greenland to decide on issues concerning Denmark and Greenland.