The next Informal Meeting of EU Ministers of Defence will be held on 24 and 25 February in Budapest and Gödöllő. It will be hosted by Csaba Hende, the working dinner and sessions will be chaired by Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

With the implementation of the Lisbon Treaty and the establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS) the EU has the opportunity to strengthen its role as a decisive and coherent actor on the global scene. The forthcoming meeting is dedicated to developing new ideas and laying the foundations for further decisions within the framework of CSDP in order to reach our common goals in the area of the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

On 24 February, during the working dinner the ministers, together with the heads of missions and operations, the Chairman of the EU Military Committee and the Director General of the EU Military Staff, will focus on the on-going EU military operations.

On 25 February during the two working sessions the ministers will discuss the major directions and issues in the area of defence policy, in light of recent multinational initiatives, such as Weimar and Pooling and Sharing. The working sessions will also allow to discuss EU partnerships with the UN and NATO (with participation of Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO’s Secretary General).

(Ministry of Defence, Press Office)