Eduardo González
The Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defense, Jose Manuel Albares and Margarita Robles, will discuss today in Brussels with their EU counterparts on the so-called European Strategic Compass, the “white book” of European Defense for 2030 and which, at this time, acquires special importance with Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine.
The main items on the agenda of the Foreign Affairs Council will be Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and the situation in Mali. The meeting also includes an informal exchange of views with Nicu Popescu, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova.
Subsequently, the Council will meet, in an enlarged formation with the attendance of the EU Foreign and Defense Ministers, to discuss the Strategic Compass, a document on which the High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy of the Union, Josep Borrell, has been working for months to underpin his commitment to European sovereignty, and which is being drafted almost at the same time as the new NATO Strategic Concept, to be adopted during the Alliance’s Summit scheduled for next June in Madrid.
“The European Council, in the coming weeks, will adopt the Strategic Compass”, declared Josep Borrell last March 1 before the extraordinary plenary session of the European Parliament to debate the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Brussels’ aim is for the new strategic approach to be adopted this spring, during the French Presidency of the EU Council. “With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we must broaden our thinking, adjust our means and anticipate our responses, because one of the lessons we have had to learn with the invasion of Ukraine is that, more than ever, Europe must think strategically about itself, its environment and the world. It is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity,” added Borrell.
According to the EU Council, “the Strategic Compass will provide clear political and strategic guidance on the EU’s approach to security and defense over the next five to ten years and reinforce the EU’s role as a security provider for its citizens.” “The EU will be able to act with greater speed and determination to protect its values and interests and contribute to international peace and security,” he stressed.
During the recent informal European Council in Versailles, organized by the French Presidency of the EU on March 10 and 11, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, called for the EU Strategic Compass “to be truly operational and to serve to address current crises, such as the one in Ukraine, but also future crises of different signs.”
Today’s Council will conclude with a debate between the EU Defense Ministers on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and they will exchange views informally (by videoconference) with the Ukrainian Minister of Defense, Oleksii Reznikov.
