News

On February 13 Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas underlined the role of the European Union in ensuring international security and the necessity to continue strengthening the EU’s military capabilities required to counter emerging security challenges while he is attending the informal EU Defence Ministers meeting in Dublin, Ireland.

According to the Minister of National Defence, Europe has to strengthen the capabilities suitable for responding to wide-spectrum crises. The Minister mentioned the Battlegroups developed by the European Union as a good example of that.

Minister J. Olekas emphasised the necessity to cooperate more intensely with the Eastern partners. “We recognize the partner nations’ contribution to multinational operations, however, cooperation with neighbouring countries is an event more important factor in creating a secure environment for the European Union,” J.Olekas said. “For this reason the cooperation could be treated as a method of stimulating security reforms in these countries.”

At the meeting J.Olekas also proposed to incorporate energy security and cyber defence issues into the discussions over the role of the European Union in the defence arena and the Common Security and Defence Policy.

The informal EU Defence Ministers meeting taking place on February 12–13 in Dublin is one of the preparatory sessions before the discussions on defence policy issues at the European Council which is due to meet this December, during Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

As it was proposed by President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, defence issues were incorporated into the European Council’s agenda for 2013 with a focus on the fact that the changing security environment called for strategic level discussions on further defence cooperation of the EU member states.

Prior to the Heads of State session, standpoints of the member states are discussed at Defence and Foreign Affairs Ministers level. The discussions focus on three key points: enhancement of the effectiveness and impact of the Common Security and Defence Policy, strengthening of the EU military capabilities and boosting of the European Defence Industry.

Ireland which is currently holding the EU Presidency will be replaced by Lithuania in July 2013. Lithuania’s priorities aimed at enhancing the Common Security and Defence Policy throughout the Presidency period include seeking intensified cooperation with the Eastern partners in security and defence sector and concentrating more closely on energy and cyber defence.

As a member of the Common Security and Defence Policy Lithuania contributes actively to the development of multinational rapid response capabilities of the European Union – the European Union Battlegroups, and also contributes to the EU-led operations.

Ministry of Defense