ATHENA Special Committee Away Days to take place in Riga

Met dank overgenomen van Lets voorzitterschap Europese Unie 1e helft 2015 (Lets voorzitterschap) i, gepubliceerd op vrijdag 24 april 2015.

On 27-28 April the away days for the ATHENA Special Committee will take place in Riga to discuss topical issues related to the financing of EU military missions.

The topic of the discussion of the Riga meeting will be service support to EU military missions.

The ATHENA Special Committee has signed a cooperation agreement with the European Defence Agency regarding technical and administrative support for infrastructure procurement. By strengthening the cooperation between the EU Member States, the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the EU contributes to common European security and is continuing to provide an effective management of EU military operations.

The away days are organised by the Latvian Ministry of Defence and will be chaired by Aleksandrs Valdis Būcēns, the Chairman of the Committee.

On 27 April, Jānis Sārts, the State Secretary at the Latvian Ministry of Defence, will deliver the opening speech addressing the participants of the away days.

The event will bring together representatives from the EU Member States and the Secretariat of the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

The ATHENA mechanism was established on 1 March 2004 by the Council of the European Union to manage the financing of common costs relating to EU military operations under the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). 27 EU Member States contribute to the financing of EU military operations, with Denmark deciding to opt out of CSDP on military matters.

Currently five active EU military operations benefit from ATHENA financing: EU military operation ALTHEA in Bosnia and Herzegovina (EUFOR ALTHEA BiH), EU Naval Force ATALANTA (EU NAVFOR ATALANTA), EU military training mission in Somalia (EUTM Somalia), EU training mission in Mali (EUTM Mali) and EU military advisory mission in the Central African Republic (EUMAM RCA).

The away days of the ATHENA Special Committee take place during each presidency, providing an opportunity to discuss the work of the Committee and topical issues related to financing of EU military missions.