Defence Minister Karl Erjavec took part in Berlin on Monday in the Congress on European Defence, which saw defence ministers from the current presiding trio discuss European defence policies. According to Erjavec, he used the opportunity to present the priorities of Slovenia's EU presidency term in the first half of next year.
Erjavec told STA that he highlighted the importance Slovenia placed on the security situation in the Western Balkans at the meeting that was attended by the defence ministers from Germany, Portugal and Slovenia.
He is said to have emphasised the EU-led Althea operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which he labelled as a case of successful cooperation between the EU and NATO in stabilisation efforts. He said a similar model should be applied in Kosovo. "The EU should through civilian programmes assume the responsibility for the further democratisation of the area," Erjavec said, adding that this could not happen until the status of Kosovo was determined.
He repeated Slovenia's stance that it would be best that a solution on Kosovo's status should be arrived at in negotiations.
Erjavec said he also pointed to the common EU operations, the need to build up the EU's military capabilities and to establish the European Defence Agency. He stressed the importance of a strong partnership between the EU and NATO and the need to avoid duplication of work between the two organisations.
The Slovenian defence minister also held brief meetings with his German and Portuguese counterparts, Franz Josef Jung and Nuno Severiano Teixeira, on the sidelines of the congress. The main topic of the meeting between Erjavec and Severiano Teixeira was the agenda of the upcoming meeting of EU defence ministers, scheduled for the end of this month.
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