The European Union adapts its actions to the security situation in the region
21.03.2022
“The session on the Strategic Compass has ended. The document was approved by the European Union's foreign and defence ministers. The document is different from the project we discussed earlier. This is a change in the right direction because the threats have been eliminated. The risk of the European Union competing with NATO in security matters has been reduced. We wanted both institutions to cooperate and complement each other. That there would be no rivalry between them and in our opinion we have achieved success” - said Mariusz Błaszczak, Minister of National Defence after the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council.
On Monday, March the 21th in Brussels, Mariusz Błaszczak, the Minister of National Defence, participated in the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in the defence format.
Minister Blaszczak began his visit to Brussels with a meeting in the format of the defence ministers of the Visegrad Group countries with the participation of the Minister of Defence of Germany. During the working lunch, the regional security situation in the light of Russian aggression against Ukraine was discussed.
During the meeting with the defence ministers of the Netherlands and Denmark, the head of the Polish defence ministry raised issues related to the current situation in Ukraine and further possibilities of supporting this country.
“I had the opportunity to talk with my counterparts within the format of the Visegrad Group countries at the invitation of Hungary, which constitute the V4 presidency. This meeting was attended by the German Minister of Defence. Later, I attended a meeting organized by the Danish minister of defence, with the participation of the defence minister of the Netherlands, Sweden, as well as the defence ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. We talked about our cooperation"
- emphasized the head of the Polish Ministry of National Defence.
Then, Minister Blaszczak participated in the working session of the ministers of foreign affairs and defence of the European Union countries. The subject of the meeting, chaired by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was the work on the Strategic Compass - a document setting out further directions for the development of the EU's security and defence policy.
“I would like to emphasize that while working on this document, we emphasized the legitimacy of using the already existing commands. An example is the headquarters of the Eurocorps in Strasbourg. As you know, we joined the Eurocorps. We believe that it is appropriate to take advantage of the opportunities offered by structures that can be used when it is necessary to raise troops for the purposes set by the European Union or NATO"
- Minister Błaszczak said at the press conference.
The heads of defence ministries of EU countries also referred to the prospects for the development of cooperation in the context of the current security situation, including: the development of defence capabilities of countries within the EU and in the context of EU defence initiatives, strengthening resilience, cooperation with NATO and the Union's partners.
“The Strategic Compass is a document that defines the future when it comes to defence cooperation between European Union countries. We emphasized that all measures that lead to the strengthening of the Union's resilience against threats are positive measures that we support. We wanted from the beginning that there would be no rivalry between NATO and the European Union, and in the event of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, any solution that strengthens the Union when it comes to deterrence and defence is a good solution"
- emphasized the head of the Ministry of National Defence.
In the afternoon, the head of the Ministry of National Defence also participated in the session of defence ministers devoted to the situation in Ukraine.
>>> GALLERY - Meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in the defence format.
