#Romania2019.eu/EU's security and defence discussed at EU defence political directors' meeting

A meeting of political directors from the defense ministries of the EU member states took place on Thursday and Friday in Bucharest, in the context of Romania's exercise of the Presidency at the Council of the European Union, having on the agenda of discussions important topics related to the security and defense of the European Union according to Agerpres.

According to a press release of the National Defence Ministry (MApN), the agenda included important topics related to the security and defense of the European Union, including cooperation between the EU and NATO, especially in the framework of joint exercises, the future of European defense, the developments and prospects of PESCO.

"Thus, on the first day of the meeting, the representatives of the member states, together with EU officials and representatives of the North Atlantic Alliance, discussed the lessons learned from the crisis management exercise EU HEX-ML 18 (PACE) and analysed the possibility of improving European crisis response mechanisms, as well as strengthening EU-NATO cooperation in general and exercises in particular," the press release reads.

The quoted source states that the second day of the works was dedicated to the future of European defense, discussing the progress made in the field last year and analysing options to increase the Union's capacity to act as a security generator and to increase the EU's s strategic autonomy.

"In this context, the European officials discussed the coherent and coordinated implementation of the initiatives launched under the Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP), including PESCO, the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and the European Defense Fund (EDF). A special session was dedicated to Permanent Structured Co-operation, where the political directors had an exchange of views on the processes of identifying, evaluating and selecting projects carried out under the PESCO aegis," according to the press release.

According to the MApN, the meeting in Bucharest - which was attended by representatives of the 28 EU Member States, the European External Action Service (EEAS), the European Defense Agency (EDA), the European Commission and NATO - was a good opportunity to prepare the Informal Meeting of Defense Ministers from the EU member states to be held on 30 and 31 January at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest.