"Today is an important day for Europe. We will launch the Planning and Conduct Capability for the military non-combatant operations. This is an embryo for the European Union to assume more responsibility in its defense," Dasis told reporters.
Dastis stressed that EU member states would take actions for Europe to be able to ensure its security and defense autonomously, however, the specific steps would be defined gradually, as they had commitments to NATO and the European Union.
The discussions on Europe's defense have become more active following the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential election. During the presidential race, Trump repeatedly said that the United States should decrease the support of other NATO member states and protect only those members of the Alliance, who "fulfil their obligations" to Washington.
The European states agreed on a new plan on the EU security and defense on November 14, which excluded the creation of an EU army and two weeks later, the European Commission proposed the creation of a new defense fund for military procurement and collaborative research as part of a wider EU defense strategy.
