On Friday, 23rd April, State Secretary for Defence Policy, Planning and International Relations, Simona Cojocaru, participated in the event Political Workshop of EU Ministers of Defence on the Strategic Compass.

In the two sections of the seminar, the defence ministers had an informal exchange of opinions on the priorities and requirements to be met in order to finalize the Strategic Compass Paper, which is centered on 4 pillars: crises management, resilience, capabilities and partnerships.

The process launched during the 2020 EU Informal Defence Ministers Reunion aims at adopting political orientations and concrete objectives needed to implement the EU level of ambition in the field of security and defence, as defined in 2016, by contributing to the development of a common security and defence policy within the member states.

In his allocution, the Romanian official emphasized the fact that the role of the EU member states is essential in running this process. The state secretary also appreciated the importance of improving the European action in the crises management field starting from the joint assessment of the threats.

The COVID-19 crisis has not eliminated the threats to the security of the member states; on the contrary, it gave a certain amount of complexity. This evolution taught us that resilience is an essential dimension of our efforts at the level of the defence ministries, which had to include the management of the pandemics. The new context shows very clearly that the current challenges claim for an integrated approach at inter-agency level. Romania assumed an important role by creating the Euro-Atlantic Center in the field of resilience, while the Ministry of National Defence contributed to the EU efforts, within the Strategic Dialogues designated to finalize the Strategic Compass Paper by organizing , on 12th April, a webminar dedicated to the military assistance offered in support of the civilian authorities, Simona Cojocaru emphasized.

The Press Office