The conference was co-organised by the Ministry of National Defence, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Eastern Europe Studies Centre on October 8-10 in Vilnius. Officials, academics, representatives of civil society and NGOs of the six EaP countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) and from EU member states and the European External Action Service discussed security challenges and opportunities of cooperation seeking an effective response, particular attention was given to the need to increase public resilience to the arising security threats. One of the sessions of the conference addressed security and defence cooperation initiatives of the EU and its three associated countries – Moldova, Georgia, and Ukraine.
It was the fourth event of similar format in a series organised to draw the guidelines for EU and EaP countries’ security and defence cooperation.
Eastern Partnership (EaP) is a European Union initiative launched in 2009 at the Summit of Prague. It is an eastern dimension of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The EU cooperates with its southern and eastern neighbours to achieve the closest political association and economic integration possible. In late 2014 Lithuania initiated establishment of a Trust Fund to foster a more active involvement of EaP countries in the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). The Trust Fund was established by the Defence Ministries of Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, UK, and Slovakia, and is administered by the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania. The Trust Fund finances participation of EaP countries’ representatives in EU operations, exercises and courses.
