Melbārde: EU defense readiness must be reached without delay

An EU General Affairs Council meeting took place on Tuesday, attended by Latvia's Foreign Ministry parliamentary secretary Dace Melbārde (New Unity). During the meeting she stressed that, given Russia's growing aggression, the European Union must achieve defense readiness without delay.

Melbārde said that reaching this goal requires fully using the potential of the EU's existing defense instruments. In her view, the bloc has no time to wait or postpone decisions, as the current security situation demands swift and decisive action.

Context

The EU General Affairs Council is one of the Council of the European Union's configurations, dealing with general policy matters including EU enlargement and institutional issues, and coordinating preparations for European Council summits. It brings together member states' foreign ministers or their representatives.

In recent years, EU defense policy has become an increasingly prominent item on the agenda, driven largely by Russia's actions in the region. Member states, including Latvia, have repeatedly called for strengthening joint defense capacity and for faster implementation of already-adopted decisions and instruments in the defense field.

Melbārde's position reflects the Latvian government's long-standing view that security threats from the east require coordinated, timely action by EU member states rather than merely declarative statements.