At their meeting on Monday 19 December in Rīga, the Heads of State and Government of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) adopted a joint statement underlining their commitment to further support Ukraine and strengthen security cooperation.
The Heads of State and Government and Ministers of Defence of the United Kingdom, Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland and Sweden discussed the security situation in the region, including the increased Russian military activity in the High North, North Atlantic and Baltic Sea region, and hybrid threats. The leadersreaffirmed the unique role of the JEF, working in full complementarity with NATO, in addressing these tensions and upholding security and stability in Northern Europe.
Listened the address by the Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenskyy regarding the situation in Ukraine, the JEF leaders agreed to continue providing all kinds of support to Ukraine and condemned Russia’s continued brutal war and attacks on critical national infrastructure aimed to terrorise the Ukrainian people.
The JEF leaders also stressed in their joint statement that this year its Member States had enhanced their capability to operate together in crisis situations and confirmed their readiness to further develop and test JEF capabilities in the joint exercises in the region, including the JEF Warrior Arctic scheduled for 2023. The leaders in Rīga meeting agreed on enhanced cooperation in tackling hybrid threats to Member States’ subsea data and energy infrastructure.
The leaders discussed the role of the JEF as a security provider in complementarity with NATO, and agreed to task experts to draft a ten year vision for the JEF before the next meeting in 2023.
