The informal meeting of European Union (EU) defense ministers ended on Thursday in Deauville, northern France, after reviewing EU's recent military operations and reaching consensus on enhancing its military capabilities.
According to a communique released after the meeting, EU will speed up its military deployment in Somalia to crack down on the increasing pirate acts there.
During their talks, the ministers committed themselves to upgrading helicopters and training pilots to facilitate operations in regions with adverse conditions. France has decided to allocate 5 million euros (6.95 million U.S. dollars) for that end, said the communique.
The ministers also agreed on setting up a multi-national airborne force, and the formation of a rapid deployment amphibious task force composed of aircraft carriers and frigates in case of military interventions.
Meanwhile, the ministers decided to strengthen the functions of European Defense Agency by boosting EU's research programs on weapons and create a defense arms market within the EU so as to pave the way for the integration of related industries.
Consensus were also reached on issues including the development of military survey satellite, protection of EU nationals abroad and the exchanges of military personnel.
The communique said EU's peacekeeping forces in Chad and the Republic of Central Africa had completed their mission, ensuring refugees' safety and resuming humanitarian aid there.
The peacekeeping missions in Montenegro also ended successfully, and EU is considering helping train the country's armed forces.
EU's High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, and representatives from the European Commission also attended the meeting.
Source:Xinhua
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