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The Portuguese presidency wants to strengthen ties with the Maghreb

(B2 - archives) The Ministers of Defense of the European Union will meet informally on 28 and 29 September in Évora (capital of Alentejo, 110 km from Lisbon) under the chairmanship of the Portuguese Minister, Nuno Severiano Teixeira.

The first plenary meeting is scheduled for Friday afternoon, followed by a press conference. Two other working meetings are scheduled for Saturday morning, including one with the Maghreb defense ministers. A troika meeting will end the meeting in the early afternoon.

The agenda for the Évora ministerial meeting has a "innovative character", according to the Portuguese Presidency. In addition to the usual points relating to missions, capacities and strategic partnerships, it introduces two in-depth dialogues of regional scope with a new strategic partner, namely the African Union, as well as a “unprecedented encounter” between the Defense Ministers of the 27 EU Member States and the five Western Mediterranean countries (Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Mauritania, Tunisia).

Operations in the Balkans

On the Operations/Missions side, we will take stock of current or future deployments. This is particularly around the stabilization of the Western Balkans, “vital for Europe as a whole” that Ministers will concentrate. “EU operations and missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 2003 give a good measure of the responsibilities assumed”. The experience of Afghanistan, and the cooperation between EU and NATO forces, will be useful in the framework of the EU ESDP mission in Kosovo, once the status of this territory is determined . Also on the agenda, the ESDP mission in Chad/Central African Republic, currently being planned, is intended to relieve the humanitarian crisis affecting this region of Africa.

The NATO-EU partnership

Of course, the EU-NATO strategic partnership will be discussed. The Portuguese Presidency of the Council attaches "a great deal of importance to relations between the EU and NATO, particularly in the context of crisis management". It aims to guarantee coordination that is as effective as it is practical when these two organizations are engaged in the same operational theater (Afghanistan, Kosovo). The question of the strategic partnership between the EU and the UN will also be discussed, after the "Joint statement on EU-UN cooperation in the field of crisis management", of June 7, 2007 and renewing that of 2003.

The progress catalog finalized

On the capabilities side, the Portuguese Presidency is in the process of completing the 2007 progress catalog (drawing up a comparison between the desired capabilities and those identified by the Member States) in view of the schedule of the capability development process inherent in the Headline Goal 2010 (approved by the Board in May 2004). “It is a fundamental document which will make it possible, in the light of the shortcomings detected, to better identify the operational risks and to try to remedy them. »

Cooperation with Africans

“The EU should continue to support its African partners in a coherent and coordinated manner, in particular through programs within the framework of security sector reform and the use of instruments relating to disarmament, demobilization and reintegration » believes the presidency. The recent experience of the EU in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a good example.

The 5+5 Initiative

As for the stability of the Mediterranean, it “constitutes a common strategic interest”. The Portuguese Presidency would therefore like "the European agenda involves more Mediterranean countries, particularly those of the Maghreb, in order to develop and deepen dialogue on security and defense issues". Based on the "5+5" initiative (cooperation between Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Malta, on the northern shore, and Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, on the southern flank), the presidency intends to use this meeting in Évora to organize an informal working session between the Ministers of Defense of all these countries, according to a “27+5” format.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
article published in Europolitics on 26 September 2007

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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