Europe’s ambassador to Australia has revealed the Albanese government and the European Union have begun discussions about a bilateral security partnership, and he is more optimistic of achieving that than the free trade deal being negotiated separately.

Anthony Albanese played down the prospect of a security partnership when it was raised with him in Rome last month, but ambassador Gabriele Visentin said Defence Minister Richard Marles and the EU’s High Representative for Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, discussed it at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last weekend.