Minister opens conference

Under the Slovak Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Bratislava hosted the Conference on the Global Strategy for the EU's Foreign and Security Policy (EUGS) – Defence Policy Aspects. On Tuesday, 27 Sept, the conference was opened by SVK Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš, along with the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the Vice-President of the European Commission, Mrs Federica Mogherini, and the Director of the European Union Institute for Security Studies, Mr Antonio Missiroli. At the top of the agenda were the defence policy aspects of the EUGS. The conference was attended by European defence and security representatives, including the State Secretary at the SVK Ministry of Defence, Róbert Ondrejcsák, and 1st Deputy Chief of Defence Lt Gen Pavel Macko. The presenters addressed security and defence issues in the EUGS, military capabilities in European defence, the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), and civil-military operations. At the conclusion, they assessed the EUGS's potential impact on the CSDP and the EU's external engagement.