“Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of National Defence Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz begins a two-day visit to Brussels on Tuesday 30 January, where he will attend a meeting of EU defence ministers and hold talks with the NATO Secretary General and the defence ministers of Germany and Ukraine”, said the Ministry of Defence.

The visit will begin with the signing of a letter of intent on military redeployment procedures with the defence ministers of the Netherlands and Germany, followed by a bilateral meeting with Boris Pistorius, head of the German Ministry of Defence, is scheduled.

According to the Ministry of Defence, this will be followed by an informal meeting of EU defence ministers with the participation of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, UN Under-Secretary-General Jean-Pierre Lacroix and the chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence Natalie Loiseau.

On Wednesday, EU defence ministers will meet with Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umierov and “hold a series of working meetings on support for Ukraine, EU military engagement in other parts of the world and support for the European defence industry”. A bilateral Polish-Ukrainian meeting is also planned to address the situation on the frontline and the assistance expected by Ukraine, both material and training.

The heads of EU defence ministries are also due to discuss options for supporting the European defence industry, in particular the issues to be included in the planned European Defence Industry Strategy and the European Defence Industry Programme.

They will discuss the required capabilities needed for future military missions, including the EU Rapid Deployment Capacity. They will also discuss the security situation in the Sahel and Gulf of Guinea and recent developments in the Red Sea, including EU efforts to preserve freedom of navigation there, reports the Ministry of Defence.

Adrian Andrzejewski