European Council in June — an important step towards further development of the EU Common Security and Defence Policy
During the informal meeting of the EU Defence Ministers on 18 February 28 Ministers for Defence agreed that it is important to ensure that at the European Council in June, devoted to discussion on defence, the heads of state and government debate strategic security challenges and discuss about the EU response to them.
The EU Defence Ministers concluded that the recent events in the EU neighbouring regions reflect that hybrid threats are the common challenge for the EU as a whole. The Ministers agreed that in the context of hybrid warfare a key defensive tool is an effective strategic communication, which can help to build consensus both internally and externally. The Ministers stressed that to address this problem the further tasks should be given during the European Council discussion in June.
“We debated on the preparations for the forthcoming European Council discussion, which will be an important reference point for further development of the EU Common Security and Defence Policy, explained Raimonds Vējonis, the Minister for Defence of the Republic of Latvia.
The informal meeting of the EU Defence Ministers is devoted to such issues as the European Council discussion on defence, the EU fight against hybrid threats, strategic communications as well as the EU rapid response capacity.
As reported before, during the informal meeting of the EU Ministers for Defence on 18-19 February at the National Library of Latvia the preparation work for the European Council discussion on defence in June 2015, the most important defence policy event during the Latvian Presidency, is carried out.
The participants of the informal meeting include Ministers for Defence of the 28 Member States, Federica Mogherini i, the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Commanders of the EU missions and operations, including General Sir Adrian John Bradshaw, the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (DSACEUR) who is also the Commander of the European Force ALTHEA, and Jens Stoltenberg i, the NATO Secretary General.