Foreign Affairs Council (Defence), 6 May 2021

Summary:

A meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) was held on 25 January 2021, focusing on defence matters. The agenda included the following items:

• Briefing on a number of matters in current affairs:
  • Outcome of visit to Sahel region - Mauritania, Mali and Chad;
  • Discussion on Russia's military build up in Crimea and on the Ukrainian border;
  • Latest developments in Mozambique;
• Exchange of views on the Strategic Compass, with a focus on crisis management;
• Adoption of Decisions concerning the participation of non-EU Member States in the PESCO project Military Mobility;
• Exchange of views with the NATO Secretary General on operational engagement in theatres of common interest;

The European Defence Agency (EDA) steering board met in the margins of the meeting to review the state of play in the implementation of the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) recommendations. The EU's High Representative also chaired for the first time the board meeting of the EU Satellite Centre (SatCen) at ministerial level.

• Primary Source

Official

General Secretariat of the Council: Background Brief for Foreign Affairs Council (Defence), 6 May 2021 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/49458/background-brief-fac-defence-210506-en.pdf

General Secretariat of the Council: Outcome of the Foreign Affairs Council (Defence), 6 May 2021 https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/49484/st08527-en21.pdf

EU EEAS: Questions and answers: Crisis Management basket – a background for the Strategic Compass (6 May 2021) https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/97895/

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