The Minister of National Defence Mr. Panos Panagiotopoulos, in his intervention during the Meeting of Defence Ministers of the European Union in Luxembourg, invited the European Council next December to make essential decisions so that common European Defence policy should progress among Member-States.

After the completion of the Council’s works, Mr. Panos Panagiotopoulos made the following statement:

“Numerous interesting issues were discussed here in Luxembourg, in the Meeting of Defence Ministers of the European Union as well as in the European Defence Agency (EDA) Steering Board.

Among these issues we asked, as Greece, that the European Council in December will take essential decisions on how common Defence policy among European states should progress.

We pointed out that steps forward should be made and this policy should finally acquire a more essential dimension. We also asked that in the European Council of December particular decisions should be taken so as to restore the context of stability and security in our broader neighbourhood, our broader region and especially in the area of the Middle East, where the issue of Syria still creates big problems of instability.

Apart from these, we also discussed the matter of the operations in Mali and the Sahel which directly relate to the instability manifested in Libya. We asked for certain initiatives to be taken, so that order and security will be consolidated in Libya and we emphasized that Greece is at the disposal of the European Union, to play its special part since the close relations uniting our country and the Arab peoples –and especially this particular country– are well known.

In our discussion we also included the Kosovo issues, after the new agreement concluded due to the decisive role of the European Union and particularly of Baroness Ashton. We also invited for more initiatives to be taken in order to establish an environment of good cooperation and stability among the peoples of the Balkan region”.