EU Military Committee Meets at Chiefs of Defence Level in Brussels

Szöveg: kormany.hu | 2012. április 26. 15:35

On April 24 the European Union Military Committee convened in Brussels under the chairmanship of General Håkan Syrén (CEUMC), with the participation of the Chiefs of Defence of the 27 EU member states. Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő, the Chief of the MoD Defence Staff headed the Hungarian delegation at the meeting of the highest military body of the EU. The conference was one in a series of EU events organized in preparation and support for the Chicago NATO Summit.

In compliance with the agenda, the Committee was briefed by Gen. Håkan Syrén and received a semiannual report from the Director-General of the European Union Military Staff (DGEUMS).

The central items on the agenda of the meeting included military capability development and the related Pooling and Sharing (P&S) of defence capabilities, which is a current issue today. The results will be presented at the NATO Summit in May as part of the message in Chicago on behalf of the EU. Taking into account the EU Strategic Framework for the Horn of Africa, the Committee was briefed on the ongoing EU NAVFOR ATALANTA and EUTM Somalia military operations as well as on the planned civilian mission for Regional Maritime Capacity Building (RMCB). Another important topic was the “Strategic Priorities", which sets the course for the work of the Military Committee in the coming period, so the Chiefs of Defence discussed and agreed to a revision of it at the meeting. In considering the agenda, the CEUMC pointed out that the strategic partnership between the EU and NATO should be strengthened further. The participants addressed the need for early warning of conflicts that had arisen during the analysis of the Libyan crisis. This capability may help the EU with conflict prevention, conflict management and taking early action.

At the meeting, Maj.-Gen. Wolfgang Wosolsobe (AT) was elected the new Director-General of the EU Military Staff (EUMS), who will take up his position in mid-May 2013. The importance of this position is reflected in the fact five member states (AT, SE, DE, IT, ES) nominated candidates for it.