Simon Harris is in Brussels to attend his first major EU meeting since being appointed Ireland’s foreign minister.

Under the coalition agreement agreed between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, Micheál Martin has become Taoiseach again, whilst Simon Harris is now Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Simon Harris joined his EU counterparts for dinner last night in Brussels ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council is taking place today.

Today foreign ministers are expected to discuss Ukraine, the Middle East and EU-US relations. The meeting also comes one week before Taoiseach Micheál Martin will be in Belgium to attend an EU ‘leaders’ retreat’.

That meeting, which was originally scheduled to be held in a chateau in the Belgian countryside, will now take place in Brussels close to the Royal Palace.

It is understood that the venue was changed for security reasons.

NATO’s chief, Mark Rutte, and seperately, British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, will join for parts of that meeting.

On Friday, Simon Harris said that Irish relations with the UK are in a “better place than it has been for many years”.

Amongst the issues being raised at the Foreign Affairs Council today, the discussion on the Middle East will be particularly important for Ireland.

The coalition’s Programme for Government doubled down on the demand that Israel upholds “human rights obligations under the EU-Israel association agreement”.

Ministers are expected to seriously discuss scheduling a meeting of the so-called EU-Israel Association Council – the body which oversees the EU-Israel free trade agreement – for February.

A high ranking EU official said that he expected ministers to agree to holding “this Association Council one month from now, approximately.”

The Irish government wants the EU to use the association agreement as leverage to push Israel to meet human rights obligations.

Other EU member states, particularly Germany and the Czech Republic – though also valuing human rights – put more emphasis on Israel’s right to defend itself.

As one EU diplomat put it, it will not be “an easy discussion”.

“I really hope and I think that we will reach some kind of consensus within the EU so that we can proceed with the Israelis”, she added.

EU foreign ministers are also expected to discuss whether they can work towards lifting some sanctions against Syria.

The EU says there have been some positive signs since Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) took over, but ministers are expected to be cautious.

Irish MEPs Barry Andrews Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, Billy Kelleher and Barry Cowen have co-signed a letter asking the EU’s foreign affairs chief to schedule a Syria conference “as soon as possible”.

“We understand the logistical challenges this request may entail. However, we firmly believe that now is the time to invest in peace.”

Ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, Simon Harris said developments in the United States, the Middle East and Ukraine “affect all of us in Ireland and across the EU and we will discuss them in depth.

“I have spoken over the weekend to the EU’s High Representative Kaja Kallas and I look forward to working closely with her and my colleagues on a range of important issues.”

The Tánaiste is also expected to press his European counterparts on the “need for a strong EU/US relationship.”