US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to visit New Zealand

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Wellington. Photo / AP

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken will make his first official visit to New Zealand next week, meeting Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta.

Blinken will be hosted in Wellington between July 26 and 27. He will receive an official Pōwhiri at Parliament.

He is just one of a host of foreign politicians travelling to New Zealand as part of the Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is also visiting. Blinken will watch the United States play the Netherlands.

Blinken visited the Pacific in 2022 but bypassed New Zealand because of strict managed isolation requirements in place at the time.

“The United States is a close friend and partner of New Zealand and I’m delighted to host Secretary Blinken on his first official visit to Aotearoa,” Mahuta said.

“Our countries have a strong and longstanding relationship, which is based on close cooperation across our many shared values and issues of strategic interest to us both,” she said.

“I look forward to productive discussions with Secretary Blinken on global and regional security issues that matter to both our countries including, our wider bilateral relationship, the war in Ukraine, climate change, Pacific resilience and regional economic recovery,” Mahuta said.

“I’m confident this visit will further our strong relationship and it continues to grow from strength to strength,” she said.

The visit comes as global geopolitical tensions ramp up, putting a renewed focus on the Indo-Pacific region.

Albanese will also visit Wellington next week. He will mark what the Government is calling a “year of anniversaries” including the 40th anniversary of Closer Economic Relations.

“2023 is the 40th anniversary of Closer Economic Relations, the 50th anniversary of the transtasman Travel Arrangement, and 80th anniversary of diplomatic representation,” Hipkins said.

Hipkins said he believed “the transtasman relationship is the strongest it has been in decades”.