The EU defence ministers gathered on 7 March for an informal dinner at Karlberg Palace ahead of their informal meeting on Wednesday 8 March.
#FAC 🛡 | “There was increasing consensus that the EU needs to act in order to provide Ukraine with more ammunition.”
Listen to Minister for defence @PlJonson on the conclusion of the informal meeting of EU defence ministers. pic.twitter.com/zkS8A0G8xq
— Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU (@sweden2023eu) March 8, 2023
The first session focused on the EU’s continued military support to Ukraine. Ukraine’s Defence Minister, Oleksii Reznikov, participated in parts of the meeting and provided an update on the latest developments in Ukraine and the needs of Ukraine’s armed forces. The EU defence ministers then discussed the joint procurement of artillery ammunition in support of Ukraine.
Particular emphasis was also given to the training of Ukrainian soldiers through the European Union Military Assistance Mission Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine). The two mission commanders took part in the meeting to update the EU defence ministers on how the training is progressing.
The meeting continued with a working lunch together with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, UN Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix and Chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence Nathalie Loiseau. The theme of the working lunch was how these organisations can cooperate more closely in light of the security situation.
The meeting concluded with a press conference on the afternoon of 8 March, at which Minister for Defence Pål Jonson and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell summarised the discussions and highlighted the most important outcomes of the meeting.
