The defense and foreign ministers of the European Union member states will discuss, during their meeting Monday in the Belgian capital, Brussels, a plan to form a military force of 5,000 fighters, and increase its military spending so that it can implement interventions alone by 2025.
Before the meeting, Josep Borrell, the European Union's chief of foreign and security policy, said that before the meeting, we will approve the "strategic compass" that will guide the Union's work in the field of security and defense over the next decade.
Borrell indicated that the document would be part of the European Union's response to Russia's war against Ukraine.
He stressed that the meeting will also discuss imposing new sanctions on Moscow, especially in the energy field, referring to the proposal of some Balkan countries to boycott Russian oil.
The document drafted by Borrell and prepared for this meeting and seen by Agence France-Presse warned that "the European Union as a community is not ready to deal with the current threats and challenges", stressing that the detailed measures are ambitious but achievable with continued political commitment.
The battle groups created in 2007 will be used by the European Union to form a response force of 5,000 soldiers.
The Union's Department of Foreign Affairs indicated that the battle groups were operational but never used, due to a lack of political will and financial means.
The force will be made up of "land, air and sea components" and equipped with transport capabilities to be able to carry out interventions to rescue and evacuate European citizens caught up in a conflict.
The Europeans lacked this ability to replace the Americans during the evacuation of Kabul in August 2021.
NATO countries (21 of which are members of the European Union) pledged to allocate 2% of their GDP to military spending in 2024.
Europeans will also invest in capabilities that they currently lack, including drones, combat systems, tanks, anti-aircraft and missile defense systems.
On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine, which was followed by angry international reactions and the imposition of "tough" economic and financial sanctions on Moscow.
To end the operation, Moscow requires Ukraine to abandon any plans to join military entities, including NATO, and to adhere to complete neutrality, which Kyiv considers an "interference in its sovereignty."