EU-bezoeken aan buitenland om te praten over veiligheids- en defensiebeleid (en/fr)

Met dank overgenomen van , gepubliceerd op vrijdag 28 oktober 2011.

Catherine Ashton discusses defence cooperation in China

Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, travelled to China for a bilateral visit on 24-25 October.

With Defence Minister Liang Guanglie they looked at how to enhance the cooperation on defence and crisis response, in particular in the fight against piracy. They also discussed regional security issues, including the situation in the South China Sea.

With Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, she addressed a number of foreign policy issues, particularly recent developments in North Africa and the Middle East, including Libya, Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan. They also discussed the difficult situation in both Syria and Iran.

She also took the opportunity to repeat the EU's consistent position on human rights.

EUSEC RD Congo aide a la réouverture de l'Académie militaire en RDC

Le 19 octobre dernier était une journée historique pour les Forces Armées de République démocratique du Congo (FARDC): l'Académie Militaire pour la formation des officiers de l'armée, officiellement Nnstitut Militaire d'Enseignement Supérieur et Universitaire, a rouvert ses portes, plus de dix ans après sa fermeture.

Cet événement s'inscrit dans la mise en oeuvre du Plan de Réforme de l'Armée appuyé par EUSEC RD Congo, la mission de conseil et d'assistance de l'UE en matière de réforme dans le domaine de la défense. L'Union européenne a financé la réhabilitation des batiments, les travaux d'infrastructures et l'achat d'équipements, et a apporté l'expertise nécessaire au développement du cursus de formation, du processus de sélection des stagiaires et des manuels. Le Programme de partenariat militaire beige a également apporté une contribution importante a travers la formation des formateurs.

L'école située a Kananga, dans le centre du pays, accueille déja 126 élèves venus de toutes les régions de RDC, et devrait recevoir jusqu'a 400 élèves a partir de 2013, afin de permettre le renouvellement continu des cadres de l'armée.

Fight against piracy high on EU agenda

HR Catherine Ashton underlines the importance of the fight against piracy:

"When I became High Representative, the issue of piracy was very high on my agenda. It is an issue that affects every country because of the nature of shipping. Half of the world's shipping goes through the Indian Ocean, two thirds of the world's oil is transported in that direction, and that means everyone is affected in terms of piracy in that region.

The European Union's work is well recognised by all countries of the region, both in terms of the support we give them to help them develop their capacity and also more generally the work we are doing to try and help Somalia tackle the problems. I think what came out of this, though, is the need for us to look again at how much more we can give."

EU NAVFOR warship escorts WFP-vessel

The German frigate FGS Köln, participating in European Union Naval Force Somalia - Operation Atalanta, has recently escorted M/V Caroline Scan to the Kenyan port Mombasa. The ship is chartered by the World Food Programme and will be loaded with urgently needed food for the people in Somalia. Additionally a German Vessel Protection Detachment was embarked on the merchant vessel during the escort and optimized therefore the safety of Caroline Scan.

During the escort, frigate Köln was supported by a Luxembourg Maritime Patrol Reconnaissance Aircraft.

The main tasks of the air- craft are to perform surface search and scan to

locate designated or suspected pirate vessels, mother ships or skiffs and to help build the Recognized Maritime Picture.

Afghanistan demands long-term commitment

When the Deputy Secretary General of the EEAS, Maciej Popows-ki, visited Kabul last week, Afghan and international counterparts underlined the need for a long term commitment of the EU in Afghanistan. Most of the counterparts welcomed the efforts and achievements of the mission EUPOL Afghanistan and requested from the EU the extension of the mission mandate beyond 2013.

This demand came up during the visit of Mr. Popowski to the HQ of the NATO-training mission in Afghanistan (NTM-A) as well as when he met the Afghan Minister of Interior, General Bismillah Khan. The participants further agreed that the cooperation of EUPOL - which trained 12,000 Afghan policemen so far - and NTM-A in support of the Afghan national police was highly efficient.

EU prepares for international conferences on Afghanistan

EU Special Representative for Afghanistan Vygaudas Usackas visited Brussels last week to discuss preparations for the upcoming international conferences on Afghanistan.

The Istanbul conference on 2 November is set to launch a regional dialogue on security cooperation in the heart of Asia, between Afghanistan and its neighbours. A month later, the international community will meet in Bonn to define its engagement until and beyond 2014 in the fields of security, governance and socio-economic development. Long-term commitment to Afghanistan is needed so as to prevent the country from becoming again a place for training and conducting international terrorist attacks.

Watch the video of the Press Briefing

EUJUST LEX Iraq: First stone of Sulaimaniya prison in Kurdistan

On 20 October, the European Union Integrated Rule of Law Mission for Iraq (EUJUST LEX - Iraq) participated in the first stone ceremony of the new Sulaimaniya adults prison.

Kurdistan Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Ms. Asos Najeeb Abdulla, thanked the mission: "A new facility does not make any sense if the staff is not qualified enough to fulfil the rehabilitation process according to the international standards. We are grateful that EUJUST LEX - Iraq has been very professionally filling this very big gap for us."

Up until now EUJUST LEX - Iraq has trained almost 1,700 Iraqi prison staff members, both in Iraq and in various EU Member States. The Sulaimaniya prison will be ready in 20 months. It will have capacity for 1,200 inmates and will have all requested facilities for a modern prison.

EUMM Georgia facilitates a new IPRM meeting

A constructive meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) was co-facilitated by the Head of the European Monitoring Mission, Ambassador Andrzej Tyszkiewiczand the OSCEChairmanship-in-Office, currently the Lithuanian Ambassador Gedrius Cekuolis. IPRM meetings refer to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and were agreed at the Geneva talks in 2009 with the mandate to address the security situation.

EUMM 's task is to facilitate dialogue between the parties and provide objective information on the situation on the ground, in order to reduce the possibility that incidents could spiral out of control.

Upcoming activities

31 October - HR Catherine Ashton meets with senior government officials and ministers in Canberra (Australia)

1-4 November - HR travels to Japan: talks in Tokyo and visit to Miyagi prefecture

14 November- Foreign Affairs Council

Newsletter - issue 11 - Special issue - ESDP (5 )10

EU Security and Defence on YouTube

European External Action Service - eeas.europa.eu - Tel: +32 (0)2 281 7367 - presse.psdc@eeas.europa.eu TV Newsroom - www.consilium.europa.eu/csdp - www.consilium.europa.eu/psdc

Les avis exprimés ne peuvent en aucun cas être considérés comme une position officielle du Service européen pour faction extérieure. The views expressed are not to be taken in any way to represent the official position of the European External Action Service.