Remarks by Federica Mogherini at the joint press conference following the NATO Foreign Ministers’ meeting
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Thank you very much Jens [Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General] and thank you for hosting me here again. We see each other regularly here at NATOand in the European Union side of the town. I remember very well when we took office more or less in the same period of time in autumn 2014: We had an initial meeting - I think it was the very same day when I started - and we said to each other that we want our reciprocal mandates to deliver a strong cooperation, practical cooperation between the European Union and NATO and I think that we can be satisfied on the work we have done so far, knowing that we still have some time to continue to work in this direction.
Indeed, the decisions that the Foreign Ministers of the Atlantic Council here in NATO took today in parallel with the decision that the Council of the European Union took earlier this afternoon is a major step forward. I would say that today we start a new important era in EU-NATO cooperation. You said pragmatic but ambitious. I would say ambitious and pragmatic; it is probably seen from the North and from the South as the same thing.
We have 42 concrete proposals for implementation. That is exactly what we were mandated to do in the Joint Declaration we signed in Warsaw last July,based on constant political dialogue that made it possible for us and for our teams to work on a common set of proposals. So these 42 concrete actions that I understand are made public, so you can look at them in details, cover all the seven areas of cooperation we identified in Warsaw and are already a result of a common work.
This is, if you allow me the terminology, a ‘common exercise’ already,because in this list of 42 concrete proposals you don’t find the EU proposals and the NATO proposals. We worked on them together and this has proven to be already a very good work that our teams have done in these months,with a very high degree of commitment and also very high speed. All the Member States of the European Union and Allies in NATO were extremely satisfied with the process so far. This is very encouraging for the next steps,because this is going to be only the beginning. Now we enter into the implementation phase as of tomorrow.
Our partnership moves from the principles of being partners and friends,overcoming some of the ghosts of the past, towards very concrete action, serving common mutual interests and our common set of values. We could see very clearly today both on the EU and the NATO side full unity of all Allies and all EU Member States and commitment to a common set of values and shared interests across the Atlantic, and that is now more important than ever as you said Jens.
The decision taken today by the European Union is an integral and coherent part of what I would call a package to reinforce the European Union’s security and defence policy. The EU-NATO cooperation is a fundamental pillar of this package. The other two are: 1) the implementation of the Global Strategy we endorsed with the Foreign and Defence Ministers of the European Union a couple of weeks ago and 2) the European Union Defence Action Plan that is focusing more on the support to capabilities developments that is also going to be important for NATO because Member States and Allies have one set of forces then can be used for different purposes, and that work I presented last week in the [European] Commission is basically focusing in the industrial and research base of our defence.
So this is also one of the fields where working together proves to be vital,where the added-value first of all of the European Union, of the NATO Alliance, of our common work is fundamental. As Jens said: The size, the nature of challenges and also opportunities we have around us are so new and so big that none of our states and allies can deal with all that alone, but need to build bridges and alliances to work together on this. And we see that our citizens are asking for security more and more. So we have a collective duty and responsibility to deliver on their security and we know very well we can do that only together. This is exactly what we have decided to do today, so Jens I would like to thank you very much for an excellent and perfect cooperation. We are different. NATO and the European have a different nature. We are respectful of our differences, of our autonomies. We are different also in the composition, but we are determined to work very well together and I think this will be not only possible but also very easy.
Q&A
Q. Listening to the ministers today we could get a feeling that NATO and Europe are going through an upheaval, a watershed moment that both have never experienced before, not only but also because there is a new President entering the White House soon – do you share this feeling that this is a very special moment and also is it a reason for Europe to be afraid?
A. There are many reasons for - not only the Europeans but also others in the world - I would say not to underestimate the threats that are currently challenging our security in the world.
I think we have never experienced such an overlapping of crises around the world; and what we call a rules-based global order, framed especially in the UN system, is put to a stress test. I tend to see this as a common challenge for our globe in which the Europeans have a special role to play because of the strength we have. I know I might be the last European referring to the strength of Europe but if you look at Europe from the outside as I constantly do, I was just coming back this morning from Africa, wherever you go in the world, people look at Europe as a place of security, human rights, integration, economic prosperity – still, even if we are coming out of a major crisis; still, in comparison with other parts of the world we are doing pretty well. Sometimes, inside the European Union we do not realise our strengths as our partners around the world do. So, I do not see a specific threat for Europe or for the European Union as such, if not the threat coming from the underestimation of our strengths.
You are right, we are going a bit in the philosophical order but I am convinced that Europe has all the instruments, all the resources, all the wisdom coming from its long history, to overcome threats and difficulties it is facing. And I am not negative about that because the European integration process in particular has always grown stronger out of challenges and difficult times. Jens was remembering the fact that both NATO and the European Union were coming out, were born out of a terrible period of conflicts in the world when Europe was the centre of it.
So, we have always managed to learn from crises, how to go stronger and to deliver better lives for our citizens and I am sure it will not be an exception this time. And again, the basic rule, the basic European rule, the European way is doing this in partnership with friends and this is why the transatlantic cooperation is key, our work with NATO on security is key, our work with our neighbours both to the East and the South is so important and also I would like to add our work to support the UN system is also crucial.
I believe that we will face the threats that the world is facing today, staying united and using all the possible tools we have. And our work on security and defence inside the European Union is exactly aimed at that.
Q. How could enhancing cooperation between NATO and the EU in the military sphere help Ukraine?
A. The European Union is - as you know - working very hard to support the country in its reforms, especially focusing on the economic reforms, the social reforms, anti-corruption, the judicial system. In the security sector we are also supporting with our presence there the security sector reform, looking more at the civilian side of it, and this is a work to which the European Union is and stays very much committed. And I would say that the added value here is the strong determination we share across the Atlantic on keeping Ukraine a priority in our agenda, not only in Europe but also across the Atlantic.
Obviously we are also working together in a field that is purely political, so a little bit less for the NATO - practical work in support of the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements. We just received President [of Ukraine, Petro] Poroshenko the other week to discuss this. We will have the EU-Ukraine Association Council in ten days from now and I will meet the Foreign Minister [of Ukraine Pavlo] Klimkin the day after tomorrow in Hamburg [for the 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council].
This is to tell you the intensity and the regularity of the exchanges we have, all of this to try and solve also the conflict in the East of the country. Obviously this is going to stay a top priority for us. The unity of purpose here across the Atlantic is important and I believe that it is really crucial,this agreement we have, even beyond what practically we do and there will be a lot of practical things we will do out of these 42 proposals. But there is a political sense also of our strong commitment today, expressed jointly, in parallel, in the same day, in the same city if I can add, in saying that our priorities, our values, our interest are shared and we will continue to work together in this.
Q. Don’t you fear that the current relations between Turkey and the EU can be an obstacle in this strategy to foster EU-NATO cooperation?
A. It has not been an obstacle. On the contrary, I think that we have had a smooth process if you think of the months, not years, that took us and our teams to work on such detailed and broad set of proposals. These 42 proposals, done since July until today, are quite an impressive record in terms of timing which means that there was a strong political support and a strong ownership, as I said in all EU Member States and – from what I have seen – in all NATO Allies to make this happen. Otherwise, you do not manage to do such work in such a short time.
Let me also say that EU-Turkey relations might be complicated from time to time, but this is the reflect of the fact that they are deep and important for both of us. I had just this morning a long bilateral meeting with [Foreign] Minister [of Turkey] Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, as I had long bilateral meeting with the minister with the EU Affairs Minister [Ömer] Çelik. Our contacts are constant and are not limited to one or two aspects of our policies. I know that the media attention is mainly on the accession process or on the refugee issue, but we discussed mainly and mostly internal developments both in Turkey and in the European Union but also the situation in Syria and in these days in particular the need to finalise the agreement in Cyprus.
So we have a common agenda that we discuss. The relations between the EU and Turkey are complex - sometimes this being complex turns into being complicated - are rich, deep and I would say fundamental for both Turkey and the European Union. And this only reflects in the fact that there is a strong engagement that I have seen again from all Member States and all NATO Allies in making this partnership between the NATO and the European Union work - it is a common interest we share because we share the same region. You don’t change your geography, the challenges you face are the same and we have an interest in working well together.
And obviously, if I can add the same goes for the EU Member States that are not NATO Allies. The process we have entered in is based, as Jens was mentioning and this is clearly stated in all our official documents, on inclusiveness, transparency and respect for the decision-making, the autonomy of both organisations and also of the specific of character of security and defence policy of all members on both sides. So we know we are different, we respect our differences and this is a good basis for a pragmatic and good cooperation.
Link to the video (remarks): http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?ref=I130604
Link to the video (Q&A): http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/video/player.cfm?ref=I130605