Ministers meet in Malta
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- Date: 27.04.2017
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Slovak Minister of Defence Peter Gajdoš attended an informal meeting of Defence Ministers of the European Union Member States in Malta. At the core of the meeting's agendawere discussions on EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia in the Mediterranean Sea, the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) and EU Battle Groups (EU BGs).
The migration from the African continent via the Mediterranean Sea towards the North remains one of the EU's current problems. Partly due to this, the Slovak Republic has decided to contribute 10 Military Police personnel to EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia. As part of the official programme, the Ministers visited the ITS San Giusto, the flagship of EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia, which belongs to the Italian Navy. As part of the operation's support tasks, the training of the Libyan Coast Guard and Navy has been in progress.
Based on the lessons learned from the EU and NATO operations and missions, it is evident that Europe lacks capabilities for delivering its security and defence priorities. Towards this end, PESCO is expected to create a platform to enable EU Member States and their partners to remove the most severe deficiencies in this area. At the meeting, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, informed the Ministers of the progress achieved in shaping this initiative.
Stepping up the usability of EU Battle Groups remains one of the Union's goals and challenges in the field of building realistically employable capabilities. In the upcoming months, we can expect to see proposals to strengthen the significance, deployability and usability of the EU's Rapid Response (RR) tools.
The migration from the African continent via the Mediterranean Sea towards the North remains one of the EU's current problems. Partly due to this, the Slovak Republic has decided to contribute 10 Military Police personnel to EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia. As part of the official programme, the Ministers visited the ITS San Giusto, the flagship of EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia, which belongs to the Italian Navy. As part of the operation's support tasks, the training of the Libyan Coast Guard and Navy has been in progress.
Based on the lessons learned from the EU and NATO operations and missions, it is evident that Europe lacks capabilities for delivering its security and defence priorities. Towards this end, PESCO is expected to create a platform to enable EU Member States and their partners to remove the most severe deficiencies in this area. At the meeting, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, informed the Ministers of the progress achieved in shaping this initiative.
Stepping up the usability of EU Battle Groups remains one of the Union's goals and challenges in the field of building realistically employable capabilities. In the upcoming months, we can expect to see proposals to strengthen the significance, deployability and usability of the EU's Rapid Response (RR) tools.
