On June 15-16th, Brussels hosted the regular NATO Defence Ministerial meeting, which, for the first time, included the participation of Finland as a full member, as well as Sweden, whose accession process is ongoing. The Ministers mostly focused on the upcoming Summit in Vilnius and held talks with their Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov and High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. The Czech Republic was represented by Defence Minister Jana Černochová.
A prominent place in the debate was dedicated to the preparation for the Summit in Vilnius. In that regard, it was key to discuss the strengthening of the NATO’s defence posture and its sourcing. A reliable collective defence needs military forces, but also demands plans on how to operate these forces and how to provide them with necessary materiel, such as ammunition whose stock have been neglected in the past.
For this very reason, the topic of cooperation with the defence industry and its support took up a significant portion of the two-day meeting. “The conflict in Ukraine has showed that production of ammunition and repairs of military equipment in own territory is a significant strategic advantage, as its importance is also reflected in the fact that it was such a prominent topic of discussion at NATO level,” Minister Černochová said after the meeting.
During the meeting with Ukrainian Defence Minister Reznikov, the Ministers expressed unanimous support to the Ukrainian fight for freedom and independence. The Alliance supports Ukraine through the ongoing assistance package and through bilateral support and delivery of equipment. The Czech Republic donated significant amounts of military materiel but also trained some 2,000 Ukrainian troops out of the 4,000 intended by the end of the year.
Minister Černochová endorsed Ukraine’s Euroatlantic aspirations: “We are convinced all nations have the right to choose their own future. Ukraine did just that but is now paying the highest of prices. In Vilnius, we need to provide to Ukraine a clear perspective regarding its future in NATO.”
In the run-up to the Summit, it was agreed that the existing NATO-Ukraine Commission shall be upgraded to NATO-Ukraine Council, meaning that Ukraine shall sit at the table with NATO nations as an equal.
Allies also agreed on increasing resources for the support of Ukraine. The aid, provided by the Alliance itself from common funding, shall most likely by multiplied at the July Summit, to be used for engineering and medical equipment as well as other necessary materiel.
The Minister of Defence also informed other Allies that the Czech Republic adopted a law anchoring defence expenditure at 2% GDP, which was very well received by the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, as defence spending shall be a substantial topic of the upcoming Summit.
Logistics were also among important topics discussed at the meeting. The war in Ukraine illustrated how vital an issue this is, given the large material demands of extensive conflicts. “As a central European country, we are well aware of the significance of logistic support, because our territory would be used for the transit of Allied forces in case of a large-scale conflict. We have therefore amended our legislation to facilitate logistics,” said Minister Černochová, adding that upgrades include for instance the creation of the institute of a military train, which would enable fast transportation of materiel and equipment on rail if needed.
One of the recurring subjects was the strengthening of resilience of the society as a whole. “We need to be aware that defence capability and resilience are not only matters of the armed forces but each and every one of us. Cyber security and hybrid threats and defence against them were one of the topics discussed at the high-level meeting,” said the Minister and added that the above-mentioned topic is one of the points included in the new security and defence strategy presently in the making.
Minister Černochová used the occasion to sign a Declaration of intent to cooperate within the acquisition and operation of tracked infantry fighting vehicles with her Slovak and Ukrainian counterpart. The Declaration provides a baseline for the coordination of activities of the signees and seeks to identify further opportunities of cooperation.
- For more pictures see: https://mocr.mo.gov.cz/informacni-servis/zpravodajstvi/pred-summitem-nato-ve-vilniusu-jednali-spojenci-o-klicovych-tematech-aliancni-obrany-244747