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At a meeting of the EU defence ministers as part of a Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday, Romania's Defence Minister Nicolae Ciuca voiced support for the efforts to consolidate the operational level of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) in an "ambitious yet pragmatic" manner, underscoring the importance of the Strategic Compass in drawing up directions to support the implementation of the EU's level of ambition.
According to a press statement released by the Romanian Defence Ministry (MApN), Ciuca pointed out the importance of coherence of efforts both to reduce the gaps between political commitments and available capabilities, and in relation to commitments as part of other international formats and organisations, given the principle of a single set of forces, agerpres.ro confirms.
"The Romanian official underlined the importance of the partnership with NATO, voicing support for strengthening co-operation in geographical areas of shared interest, as well as for streamlining coordination in order to increase the resilience of partners in the Eastern Neighbourhood," MApN shows.
The meeting was the first thematic ministerial meeting organised in the context of the Strategic Compass implementation process, an instrument aimed at facilitating the implementation of the EU's level of ambition as defined in 2016 by establishing precise political guidelines and objectives in the areas of security and defence. The main theme of the meeting was the pillar dedicated to crisis management under the Strategic Compass. The event also provided an opportunity for an exchange of views on the latest developments in the Sahel, Mozambique and Ukraine.
In the exchange of views, the defence ministers considered a raft of proposals by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and presented several ideas on strengthening the EU's operational profile. Concrete proposals included ways to increase effectiveness in responding to crises, improving the level of force availability, increasing response capacity and operational flexibility.
The defence ministers agreed with the council's conclusions on security and defence and adopted decisions approving the participation of Canada, Norway and the USA in the PESCO military mobility project.
The event also included a working lunch also attended by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Ways to improve co-operation and coordination of operational efforts in areas of common EU and NATO interest were addressed.
