EU foreign affairs and defence ministers have reached agreement about a "strategic compass" that will guide the future of the bloc's defence cooperation, according to a tweet issued by Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto (Green) on Monday evening.
"Pleased that there is an agreement on the EU Strategic Compass commitment to deeper cooperation," Haavisto tweeted on the "Finland in EU" twitter account.
Work on the development of the EU's defence strategy has been in the works for some time, with a draft of the strategic compass being published last November.
The compass sets out a common strategic vision for the EU's defence and security, which aims to: improve preparedness levels of EU armed forces and civilian experts; develop a rapid-deployment capacity of troops; make joint investments in military capabilities; increase the bloc's ability to prevent and deter things like hybrid threats and other foreign interference; strengthen cooperation between Nato, the UN, OSCE, AU and ASEAN, as well as boost cooperation with the US, Canada and Norway.
The contents of the strategy were reviewed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In a later post on Twitter, Finnish defence minister Antti Kaikkonen (Cen) said the adoption of the compass "is a significant step in deepening EU's defence cooperation."