EU’s plans on defence and NATO-EU cooperation discussed at the NATO Defence Ministerial
First NATO Defence Ministerial of the year was held 14-15 February at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. Minister of Defence Jussi Niinistö represented Finland at the first day’s Working Dinner.
The aim of the Ministerial was to plan and prepare for the NATO’s upcoming Summit in July. During the Ministerial, Allied Defence Ministers addressed and took decisions on modernizing NATO’s Command Structure, defence spending, projecting stability and NATO’s role in fighting terrorism in Iraq. Defence Ministers of Finland and Sweden together with EU High Representative Federica Mogherini participated in the first day’s Working Dinner focusing on EU’s defence efforts and NATO-EU cooperation.
- At the working dinner, the High Representative Mogherini spoke in a very concrete manner about the objectives, timetables and progress of the new EU defence initiatives. This type of transparency is important for the two organizations in order for them to work in a complementary and mutually reinforcing way, said Minister Niinistö after the dinner.
In regard to NATO-EU cooperation, the dinner discussion focused largely on the EU-NATO Joint Declaration’s common set of proposals. On December 2017, three new areas, i.e. military mobility, fighting terrorism and women, peace and security, were endorsed. In Minister Niinistö’s speech, especially military mobility was stressed.
- When enhancing military mobility, it is important that the focus is on ensuring that the different work strands are well coordinated, transparent and connected to military needs. This is in Finland’s interest as well, he noted.
From the beginning, Finland has been a strong supporter of developing the EU defence cooperation. Deepening cooperation also between EU and NATO is considered to enhance common security and possibilities to strengthen Finland’s partnership with NATO. According to Minister Niinistö, EU-NATO cooperation as well as the strong Atlantic link at both political and military levels is of great significance.
- The new defence initiatives of the EU have a lot of potential in developing military capabilities and security in Europe, while NATO clearly remains the only collective defence organization.
Read more about NATO Defence Ministerial from NATO’s website(Linkki toiselle web-sivustolle.).