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EU Defence Ministers met in Brussels

Ministry of Defence & Armed Forces of the Czech Republic

15.11.2022

The meeting of Defence Ministers of the European Union Member States took place in Brussels on Tuesday, November 15, 2022. The agenda addressed the impact of the Russian aggression on Ukraine and other parts of the world and effectiveness of common EU tools for designed for building defence capabilities plus the launching the EU assistance mission for training Ukrainian soldiers. The EU Foreign Affairs Council - Defence was chaired by EU High Representative - Vice President Josep Borrell. The Czech Republic was represented by Minister Jana Černochová. The ministerial meeting's program also included a session of the European Defence Agency Steering Board, which primarily debated the EDA activities to support and coordinate the development of the Member States' military capabilities.

The meeting discussed current issues, especially the launching the European Military training mission for fifteen thousand Ukrainian soldiers. The mission was tasked by the informal defence ministerial meeting in Prague at the end of August, while its formal creation was authorised by the EU Foreign Ministers in mid-October.

Minister Černochová declared the Czech Republic's strong support to the mission. "The Czech Republic's staunch support to Ukraine will also reflect in the size of our contribution into the training mission. We will be involved in training Ukrainian soldiers in Poland, and provide a full training module in our territory at the same time," she said.

Minister Černochová also underscored the need to carry on supporting Ukraine with the European Peace Facility (EPF), which will therefore have to increase: "It is a high priority for the Czech Presidency to make use of the EPF for supporting Ukraine in the future. We have to make sure the assistance measures from this instrument will sufficiently support the mission."

Sahel, EU defence capabilities discussed besides Ukraine

The impact of the Russian aggression in Ukraine is not limited to Europe but indeed projects to other regions too. One of those is the Sahel, a key region for European security.

The aggravated security environment in Sahel, combined with instability of the Western Balkans and the Middle East and last but not least the war in Ukraine show for the EU the criticality of tackling shortfalls in military capabilities and of replenishing stocks of military materiel. That is why EU Defence Ministers were in a session specifically focused on capability development. Such common discussions on this specific topic are one of the taskings under the EU Strategic Compass, which was endorsed in March. That should be facilitated by an effective use of existing coordination tools and common placement of strategic contracts. One of the options is to involve third countries and their defence industrial capacities in PESCO.

For the closing of the meeting, the EU Defence Ministers were joined by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and online by Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov, who updated the Ministers on the situation in his country. Minister Černochová reiterated on this occasion that together with Czech Prime Minister Petr they voiced a cleared message in a government-to-government meeting in Kyiv two weeks ago: the Czech Republic will stand by Ukraine as long as needed. "It is remarkable that the Ukrainian endeavour bears fruit, despite the intensified Russian pressure in the form of indiscriminate aerial bombing of civilian targets. We also have to develop a strong political and material support to Ukraine. The goal has to be to ensure the Ukraine's continuous ability to effectively defend its territory across all operational domains," Minister Černochová reaffirmed the Czech position on the strong support of the attacked country and added it is necessary already now to intensively work on the postwar reconstruction of the country.

Bilateral meeting with the Swedish Minister of Defence

Before the Foreign Affairs Council meeting, Minister Černochová also had a bilateral meeting with her new Swedish colleague Minister Pål Jonson. The Czech Republic and Sweden have been long-standing strategic partners for defence and security, which is especially true for armaments and defence industrial cooperation.

Minister Černochová and Minister Jonson primarily discussed major armaments projects, especially the Czech procurement of the Swedish CV90 tracked infantry fighting vehicle. This project is crucial for the modernisation of the Czech Land Forces and for delivering on the Czech Republic's capability development commitments. The Ministers agreed it was in the interest of both countries to go fast forward in negotiations and reach agreement by the end of this year. The project will involve a sizeable participation of the Czech defence industry (at least 40 % of the contract value), which will further strengthen the industrial cooperation of both countries.

Both Ministers discussed the Czech Presidency agenda and its key priorities, particularly because Sweden will take over the Presidency of the Council of the EU from the Czech Republic at the beginning of the next year. The defence cooperation between the two countries will further deepen in the context of the upcoming accession of Sweden to NATO, which the Czech Republic already ratified and fully supports.