Deputy Defence Minister M. Majer meets EU Defence Ministers for talks on Strategic Compass in Lisbon

EU Defence Ministers met in Lisbon for talks on common goals in preparation of the Strategic Compass as part of the strategic dialogue phase. The SVK Ministry of Defence was represented at the meeting by Deputy Defence Minister Marian Majer. The meeting was organised under the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

As Deputy Defence Minister Marian Majer clarified, the primary goal of the Strategic Compass is to set out how best to assure the EU's ability to respond effectively to challenges in the field of security and defence. “Therefore, the discussions of EU Defence Ministers were aimed at addressing three particular areas of the Compass which will form part of the document under development. The aim was to delineate the baseline policy and goals on EU crisis management, resilience and partnerships,” he said.

Deputy Defence Minister Marian Majer continued: “The aim of the meeting was to jointly form a set of proposals that will be instrumental to the formulation of the Strategic Compass. Our aim is to set concrete proposals in a way that individual Member States will be capable of turning them into reality.” Additionally, he emphasised the importance of reinforcing the EU's cooperation with strategic partners, including with NATO.

In this context, he touched on the collective interest in advancing collaboration between the EU's military and civilian instruments across all phases of potential crises and all levels. “The operational environment is becoming more complicated and unpredictable in its nature,” said Mr Majer, adding that intense sharing of information with NATO Allies is a necessary pre-requisite for us to face security threats together.