During the Schuman Forum on security issues, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, announced the intention of the European Union (EU) to create a network of defence agreements with third countries and called on everyone to join it.
According to Borrell, along with the growing scale of global problems, interest in defence cooperation is also growing, as evidenced, among other things, by the increased number of forum participants.
Borrell said that the need to expand the partner network in the field of defence and security arose against the background of an increasing number of threats and added that in this regard, the EU intends to rapidly increase its capabilities and become "a capable player in the field of defence and security on the world stage." The head of European diplomacy believes that in the context of growing tensions in the world "Maybe we have forgotten that peace is not the normal state of things, that conflict is more the norm than peace".
"No country, acting alone, can address challenges such as the weakening of multilateralism, the return of power politics across the world, the renewed assertiveness of authoritarian regimes, and the mix of conventional and hybrid threats that we are facing".
Josep Borrell, High Representative/Vice-President of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
According to Borrel, the current circumstances are pushing the EU to develop new forms of cooperation with partners. He mentioned that within the framework of this course, the European Union recently achieved two partnership agreements in the field of security and defence – with Moldova and Norway, and noted that six more draft agreements in the field of security with other countries are currently under development. He also added that the EU is currently conducting about 80 dialogues and consultations on peace and security issues with 40 partners, as well as supplying weapons to 20 countries through the European Peace Facility.
The Schuman Forum is an event organized within the framework of the military concept of the "A Strategic Compass for Security and Defence", which involves, among other things, the development of military partnership and strengthening the role of the European Union in the world. The idea of the event is to keep the EU in touch with its closest allies and potential partners to discuss common threats.
Source - European Commission
