Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela stressed the need for EU to respond to external crises, build partner countries’ capacity and protect Europe.

“The level of ambition of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) should be guided by priorities identified in the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy: responding to external crises, building the capacity of partners affected by crises and fragility, and protecting Europe,” Minister for Home Affairs and National Security, Carmelo Abela, told the Defence ministers of the EU’s 28 Member States on Tuesday.

The Ministers met in Bratislava on the 26th and the 27th of September 2016 for the Informal Defence Ministers’ Council Meeting (FAC/Defence) which was hosted by Slovakia as the holder of the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Ministers had an exchange of views on how to implement the security and defence aspects of the EU Global Strategy, which was approved by the European Council in June 2016.  They also discussed how synergies can be created with other EU actions in this domain, such as the European Defence Action Plan. 

The meeting also discussed the cooperation with other international organisations in the domain of crisis management and conflict prevention. Part of the meeting was held, as customary, in the presence of the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Mr Hervé Ladsous and of NATO’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, who discussed areas of common cooperation between the EU, the UN and the NATO in the promotion of international stability and security.

Ministers also discussed the EU’s role as a global actor and security challenges arising from situations of humanitarian crises around the world, with a particular focus on the Sahel and Libya. In these areas, the EU is already present and active on the ground thanks to missions and operations set up under its CSDP and which are assisting fragile governments and societies by helping to consolidate the security structures of the armed forces by means of capacity building initiatives.

On the margins of the Council meeting, Minister Abela had bilateral meetings with the Minister of Defence of Estonia, Hannes Hanso, and the Minister of Defence of Cyprus, Christoforos Fokaides, regarding preparations for Malta’s upcoming Presidency of the Council of the EU. The next informal Defence Ministers’ Council meeting will be held in Malta, during its Presidency of the EU Council, in the first half of 2017.