Minister Krstičević attends EU defence ministers meeting in Finland

The Croatian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Damir Krstičević attended the EU member nations’s defence ministers held in Helsinki, Finland on 28 and 29 August 2019.

The EU member nations ministers discussed artificial intelligence and new technologies development and their growing role in defence, as well as the growing climate impact on security and defence sectors. The ministers also exchanged views on the importance of maritime safety and the related EU activities. The joint session of defence and foreign ministers focussed on countering hybrid threats.

In his address on artificial intelligence and new technologies Minister Krstičević qualified them as a new dimension of operation in defence, entailing new opportunities as well as numerous challenges.
In order to successfully use the benefits of new technologies to counter security threats the member nations need to co-operate with the civilian sector and act in common at the national, the EU and NATO levels, security challenges and threats, and setting out an appropriate legislative and ethical framework for operation.

Contributing to the discussion on climate changes and their impact on security and defence Minister Krstičević called for co-ordinated operation, and pointed to an expected increased impact on security in future, resulting in migrations from the affected areas.

Addressing maritime safety the Minister underlined its importance for the overall security in Europe, to be complemented with additional engagement and co-operation with the strategic partner and direct the efforts on the issues of strategic importance for the EU.

During the joint session with the foreign ministers (attended by the Croatian Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Goran Grlić Radman) dedicated to the hybrid threats  suočavanja s hibridnim prijetnjama, Minister Krstičević proposed exercises at the ministerial and expert levels to encourage constructive dialogue, build situational awareness and information exchange. Minister Krstičević also emphasised the need for extra efforts and more proactive approach to dealing with hybrid threats, and for tighter NATO-EU co-operation in the domain.

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