Good morning to all of you,
Today, we are going to have a very busy Defence Ministers’ [Foreign Affairs] Council. We will have first the [Steering] Board of the European Defence Agency [EDA] and, at the end, at the Ministerial meeting level, the Board of the [EU] Satellite Centre [SatCen].
It is the first time that this Board takes place at the Ministerial level and it shows the importance that we give to this [Satellite] Centre, which is located in Madrid and which is our eyes to see what is happening in the world.
During the [Foreign Affairs Council] meeting, we will pay attention to what is happening in the Ukrainian border and the Russian border. Ministers would like to talk about that.
Also, [about] the situation in the Sahel, which is not improving. Every day, there are killings, kidnappings and attacks against troops – yesterday in Niger.
Another issue, which is more and more an issue of concern, is Mozambique. The Mozambican government has been asking for help. We will try to send an [EU] training mission, like the one that we have in the Sahel, in order to contain the security situation in Mozambique.
But the main issue will be the Strategic Compass. We are going to focus on crisis management and study how we can improve the effectiveness of our missions [and operations], which are deployed in different countries, and give the strongest support to some of them. The Sahel is one case, now we are studying the possibility of enlarging to Mozambique.
The Strategic Compass is the way we are trying to put together a common understanding of the challenges that the Europeans are facing. Believe me, these challenges are increasing and becoming worse.
That is why today we are going to have a very important Defence Council of Ministers.
Thank you.
Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-205369