Joint Declaration by the Foreign Ministers of Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom in Warsaw, 19 November

Press release

Joint Declaration by the Foreign Ministers of Germany, France, Poland, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom in Warsaw, 19 November

The Foreign Ministers of the Weimar Triangle from Germany, France and Poland discussed European security with the Foreign Ministers of Italy, Spain and the UK.

We, the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom, have come together today, recognizing that our common security is challenged as never before in our lifetimes.

Russia is systematically attacking European security architecture.

For the last 1,000 days, in its war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia has killed many thousands and repeatedly violated international law.

Russia's reckless revisionism and constant refusal to stop the aggression and engage in meaningful talks challenges peace, freedom and prosperity on the European continent and in the transatlantic area.

Russia is increasingly reliant on partners such as Iran and North Korea in order to sustain its illegal warfare.

Moscow's escalating hybrid activities against NATO and EU countries are also unprecedented in their variety and scale, creating significant security risks.

To live up to this historic challenge, we are determined to stand united with our European and transatlantic partners to think and act big on European security. European countries must play a still greater role in assuring our own security, acting alongside our transatlantic and global partners.

Today, we therefore consider it imperative to:

• reaffirm the enduring role of a strong and united NATO as a bedrock of European defence and security, based on a strong transatlantic bond, an ironclad commitment to defend each other, and fair burden-sharing;

• strengthen NATO by stepping up our security and defence expenditure, in line with our previous commitments, while reaffirming that, in many cases, expenditure beyond 2% of GDP will be needed to address rising threats to security and meet the requirements to deter and defend across all domains in the Euro-Atlantic area.

• strengthen Europe's security and defence, using all levers available to us, including the economic and financing power of the European Union and by reinforcing Europe's industrial base. To this aim, we will build on the work in NATO, the European Union, among groups of Allies and with likeminded countries, discuss innovative financing, and remove obstacles to defence trade and investment;

• invest in our critical military capabilities, including air defence, deep precision strikes, drones and integrated logistics, as well as in critical infrastructure and cyber defence, while investing in research and development, and using new technologies;

• enhance resilience to cognitive warfare and hybrid threats in Europe, also through the relevant EU mechanisms, and promote the resilience of our societies,

• further step up our military, economic and financial support for Ukraine, while welcoming the 50 billion dollar G7 loan to ensure that Ukraine has sufficient resources for the next year;

• remain steadfast in our support for a just and lasting peace for Ukraine, based on the UN Charter, reaffirming that peace can only be negotiated with Ukraine, with European, American and G7 partners by its side, and in making sure that the aggressor will bear consequences, also financial ones, of its illegal acts that violate rules set out in the UN Charter,

• continue deterring Russia, thwarting Putin's ability to sustain his war of aggression, and constraining the build-up of Russia's military capabilities, including through restrictive measures.

We underline our steadfast commitment to a European security architecture based on the principles of the UN Charter and the OSCE, which have been gravely violated by Russia in recent years.

We are convinced that this is the moment when we must deliver and ensure that our citizens live in peace, freedom and prosperity. To this end, further integration between the EU member states, closer cooperation between the EU and the UK, and enhanced cooperation between NATO and the European Union will be key. We consider this also a unique opportunity to renew the foundations of our transatlantic relations with the United States of America by strengthening NATO and ensuring fair burden sharing within the Alliance.

ENDS

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Published 19 November 2024