The agenda of the EU chiefs of defence meeting included crises in the east and the south as well as the issue of migration. The European Union Military Committee (EUMC) met at the level of chiefs of defence in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday, 28–29 October 2015 in the spirit of preparing for the meetings of the European Council at the level of Heads of State and Government and the Defence Ministers to be held in December.
Headed by Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő, the Hungarian delegation included Head of the Office of the Hungarian Military Representative Maj.-Gen. László Domján and the experts of the office. The agenda of the committee harmonized with the program of the ministerial meeting.
The main topics of the two-day meeting focused on current issues determining the present and future of EU’s military role. Accordingly, working out the EU Global Strategy on Foreign and Security Policy was an important topic, which is meant to define the EU’s future place and role. As a framework document, the strategy intends to define the main processes and challenges for the next five or six years, on the basis of which the given special fields can identify their own task. The idea of synchronizing the EU Strategy under discussion with NATO documents was put forward by the Hungarian delegation, and met with the approval of representatives of the member states.
As part of the program of the meeting, the committee paid special attention to crisis zones on the eastern and southern borders of Europe. It discussed the military issues of the EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia, which was launched against the flood of migrants coming from North Africa – mainly from Libya – to Europe on the Mediterranean Sea and illegal human smuggling. It also analyzed the lessons learned during a similar maritime operation EUNAVFOR ATALANTA.
Upon Hungarian initiative, during the discussions the Committee addressed the effects of the migration crisis in the Western Balkans. As an invited guest, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Gen. Viktor Muzhenko gave a comprehensive briefing on the crisis in Ukraine, analyzing it from the aspect of a new type of threat (hybrid warfare).
On the margins of the meeting, in the presence of the Ukrainian Chief of Defence, the chiefs of defence of the Visegrád Four (V4) countries ratified a letter of intent on Ukraine’s joining the V4 EU Battle Group in the first half of 2016.
The chiefs of defence were given a comprehensive picture on the current state of African training missions (EUTM Mali, EUTM Somalia, EUMAM RCA). With the involvement of partner countries, the leaders of these missions are following the principles worked out in the framework of the EU Crisis Management Concept (CMC) in the fields of training and equipment. A fundamental lesson learnt from the training-advisory missions is that hard-earned military achievements can only be sustained permanently through long-term presence and advisory role.
Discussion of the EU/NATO Cooperation was high on the agenda of the meeting. The timeliness of the topic was given by the threats from the east and the south, hybrid warfare in the case of the Ukrainian situation and the reform of NATO. In summarizing the agenda, all member states and organizations agreed on the need for raising the level of cooperation.
At the meeting, on behalf of the Minister of Defence, Hungarian Chief of Defence Gen. Dr. Tibor Benkő presented “For the Alliance” medal to outgoing Chairman of the EU Military Committee Gen. Patrick de Rousiers, in recognition of his work done in the interest of the Hungarian Defence Forces.
At the end of his mandate, in agreement with chiefs of defence of the member states, the chairman of the Military Committee formulated a proposal concerning his experiences to submit it to the EU High Representative. In closing the meeting, French Gen. Patrick de Rousiers – chairman since November 2012 – transferred authority as chairman of the EUMC to his successor, the incoming Chairman Gen. Michail Kostarakos, who served as Greek Chief of Defence between November 2011 and September 2015.