EU security and defence was strengthened during the Czech Presidency, which took place in the shadow of Russian aggression of Ukraine. One of the most important achievements of the past six months was the launch of the training of Ukrainian military personnel and the continued provision of military and humanitarian materiel to Ukraine. The Czech Presidency also negotiated an agreement on the possibility of common military procurement and achieved progress in countering hybrid interference and strengthening the EU-NATO relationship.
The priorities of the Czech Presidency and the EU itself were impacted by the Russian-instigated war in Ukraine. In the past eight months, many countries not only increased their defence investments but indeed revised their attitude on security and defence in general. The Czech Presidency (CZ PRES) contributed to this development.
For the CZ PRES, the Ministry of Defence defined three priorities: strengthening the EU-NATO cooperation, providing aid to Ukraine and implementing the Strategic Compass, the new EU security and defence strategy.
In order to fulfil these priorities, the Ministry of Defence made use of political discussions on the highest level as well as conferences and seminars, with the most vital being the meetings of Defence Ministers in their dedicated configuration of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC Defence). During the six months of the CZ PRES, one formal and one informal meeting were organized with the participation of representatives of NATO and the UN, as well as the Ukrainian Minister of Defence.
In the field of security and defence, the Czech Presidency achieved many significant objectives:
EU Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine
A significant step in supporting Ukraine in its fight against the Russian aggression was made on 14 November 2022 in the form of the decision to launch the EU Military Assistance Mission designed to train Ukrainian military personnel. It is the very first military mission aimed at supporting a third country and carried out on EU territory. Political agreement on this topic was reached as soon as end of August, during the informal defence ministers meeting in Prague. The mission’s objective is to train approximately 15,000 Ukrainian servicemembers in two years, making this one of EU’s largest missions. The Czech Armed Forces contribute significantly to this effort.
Continued deliveries of military and humanitarian materiel to Ukraine
A key role in the provision of aid to Ukraine is played by the European Peace Facility (EPF), which enables the EU to provide lethal military materiel. The EPF is an off-budget instrument, which – despite originally having a different purpose – has enabled to approve measures of assistance for Ukraine since the very beginning of the Russian aggression and pay back to the countries for a large portion of the donated materiel. The Czech Presidency (thanks to the synergised efforts by MoD and MFA) focused on achieving compromise on a number of issues, such as increasing the financial and material aid to Ukraine and setting up mechanisms for refunding the deliveries in order to help individual countries maintain and even increase their support.
Expanding the options for common military procurement
The CZ PRES can count the Council level agreement on EDIRPA regulation (European Defence Industry Reinforcement through Common Procurement Act) among its important achievements. This agreement is the first step to the expansion of the possibility of common procurement of military materiel by EU Member States, especially in the context of the war in Ukraine. A Council working group led by the representatives of the Ministry of Defence used the six months to launch and finalize negotiations with Member States regarding the regulation, which is to support the European defence technology and industry base and motivate Member States to focus on common procurement in the context of urgent replenishment of provisions of vital military materiel. This achievement also contributed to the implementation of tasks defined by the Strategic Compass, which, in March, emphasized the need to overcome gaps in common procurement.
Progress in the field of hybrid interference
The Czech Presidency also succeeded in significantly increasing EU resilience to hybrid interference and disinformation, fully in line with the objectives of the Strategic Compass. During the first half of July, Czech diplomacy was able to finalize the Council’s conclusions on foreign information manipulation and interference. These conclusions illustrate the EU’s determination to strengthen its engagement in facing this challenge on all levels and were approved by the Council of the EU in July. After long negotiations, in December the Czech diplomats were able to find consensus and approve the implementation guidelines for the Framework for a coordinated EU response to hybrid campaigns, making the Hybrid Toolbox operational. The EU can now react to these threats in a coordinated and integrated manner.
A stronger EU-NATO relationship
The Czech Presidency was significantly involved in the strengthening of EU-NATO cooperation. A specific focus was on increasing mutual awareness of the activity of both organisations in order to facilitate cooperation and prevent potential misunderstandings. NATO representatives were therefore invited to various meetings and conferences within the CZ PRES. The Czech Republic was the first Presidency country to have provided relevant information on EU development to non-EU Allies within NATO. The CZ PRES still focuses on attaining the signing of the third joint EU-NATO declaration, which is to set forth the following practical common steps in the current security environment.
In this context, the Czech Presidency attained several achievements in the field of military mobility, which included the United Kingdom joining the PESCO project on military mobility, and Action Plan expand this domain was issued based on the tasking under the Strategic Compass. As military mobility is a topic important for both organisations, the Czech Republic also raised it actively in NATO with the help of EU representatives.
“In the six months of the Czech Presidency, we attained many significant achievements with our EU partners – for instance we adopted the EDIRPA regulation to expand the spectrum of options for common procurement of military equipment, we reached consensus on how to face hybrid threats effectively and in coordinated fashion, and last but not least we are intensively helping Ukraine to resist the barbarian Russian aggression. And the current security situation is proving how vital the EU is for the Member States and NATO for its nations, whose deeper cooperation the Czech Republic has advanced,” said the Czech Minister of Defence, Jana Černochová.