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Ottawa hosts 4th annual CSDP Symposium

22.11.2017

The 4th annual EU-Canada Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) Symposium took place on 20 November in Ottawa. Building on the success of previous editions, this year’s highly-anticipated CSDP Symposium gathered Canadian and European military and civilian practitioners, policymakers and academic experts, and looked at ways to address global security threats.

Topics of discussions included such security issues as asymmetric and hybrid warfare. Keynote addresses were given by Zanda Kalnina-Lukasevica, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, and Jean Rioux, Parliamentary Secretary to Canadian Minister of National Defence Harjit Sajjan. Matt DeCourcey, Parliamentary Secretary to the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland, and European Union Ambassador Peteris Ustubs offered closing remarks.

"In this complex environment, Canada and the EU share the same strategic objectives, deeply rooted in a shared worldview and historic and cultural ties," said Ambassador Ustubs. "Canada and the EU have worked together over the years, within NATO, in the multilateral context of the United Nations, OSCE and Council of Europe to promote these shared visions.

"I am glad to see that the CSDP Symposium is increasingly claiming its spot as an important forum to discuss security and defence matters in Ottawa," the Ambassador continued.

The EU is a global security provider, active in peacekeeping and conflict prevention. Since CSDP was set up 15 years ago, the EU has conducted more than 30 civilian and military operations. There are currently 16 ongoing CSDP missions, including 10 civilian and six military.

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