Minister Banožić at informal meeting of the EU Defence Ministers in France

On 12 and 13 January 2022 Defence Minister Mario Banožić participated in Brest at informal meeting of the EU Defence Ministers organized by French presidency of the Council of the EU.

The topic on the first day of the meeting was activity of the state and non-state actors in areas of implementation of the EU missions and operations. Besides Defence Ministers of the EU, participants were NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Under-Secretary-General of the UN for peace operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and Chairwoman of the Sub-Committee of the European Parliament for Security and Defence (SEDE) Nathalie Loiseau.

In his address, Minister Banožić emphasized that various groups have been trying, with their increasingly aggressive operation, to diminish efforts of the European Union directed towards strengthening stability of the partner states. NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg informed Defence Ministers about meeting of the NATO-Russia Council held earlier on that day.

The second session was held on the topic of preservation of the EU strategic interests in disputed domains with focus on the universe. Speaking about that topic Minister Banožić stated that due to a growing number of the enemy’s activities in that domain, it is necessary to create a comprehensive approach in order to ensure economic and strategic interests, as well as stable and sustainable employment of the resources. He emphasized that future EU strategy for the Universe in the area of defence and security has to contribute to strengthening of the common understanding and political awareness about the connection of the Universe and defence. That will also contribute to possibility of threat identification. Employment of the EU defence initiatives as PESCO, CARD and EDF can contribute to further synergy between civilian and defence industries. The EU has to continue to develop international legal framework in the stated area and that is another area of cooperation with partner organization of NATO and the UN, Minister said.

Meeting of the Defence Ministers ended with working lunch of all present EU Defence Ministers and the EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs at which Mr. Gordan Grlić Radman, Minister of the Foreign and European Affairs from Croatia also took part. The topic was discussion about the revised draft of the Strategic Compass, a document on which the EU and its member states have been working more than a year and its adoption is expected in March this year.

The discussion was directed towards key political questions that will be the guideline for our efforts in the area of security and defence in the next 5 to 10 years. In his address, Minister Banožić drew attention to importance of quick adoption of the third in a row Declaration on EU-NATO cooperation. NATO is the foundation of collective defence in Europe and Strategic Compass should consequently reflect the necessity of complementarity and synergy of both organizations. A proposal for taking into consideration more frequent revisions of the Analyses of the threats to the EU was commended. It will contribute to establishment of the common understanding of the challenges the EU is faced with. In closing, Minister stressed the necessity for better connection of the EU defence initiatives and national processes of defence planning.