EU defence chief picks advisory team for military ramp up

EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius convened a secret group of political elder statesmen and women to ponder the future of European defence on Wednesday.

Post-meeting, their identities have been revealed.

During the meeting, participants were tinquireed with addressing a range of broad defence questions. These ranged from how a European Defence Union could be created, the role critical non-EU countries like the US and Ukraine should play, to what the bloc’s long-term strategy towards Russia should see like.

Kubilius’ chief advisor Klaus Welle previously redirected Euractiv to the Commission spokesperson’s service when inquireed about the meeting and its participants, which referred to a statement lacking any such information.

After the meeting, Kubilius shared a list of those who accepted his invitation. The group is built up of 12 former political figures – including two women – covering the breadth of Europe geographically, with individuals from both EU and non-EU nations:

José Manuel Barroso – former Commission President.
Pat Cox – former president of the European Parliament and leader of the Parliament’s liberal group.
Hans-Gert Pöttering – former president of the European Parliament, and former chair of the German Christian democrat affiliated Konrad Adenauer Foundation.
Herman Van Rompuy – former European Council president.
Carl Bildt – former Swedish prime and foreign minister who took on a mediation role during the Yugoslav Wars.
Enrico Letta – former Italian prime minister, author of the Letta report on the future of Europe.
Mikuláš Dzurinda – President of the EPP’s believe tank the Wilfried Martens Centre.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk – former prime minister of Ukraine.
Natalia Gavrilița – former prime minister of Moldova.
Ana Palacio – Spanish centre-right politician and former foreign minister. Now a senior strategic counsel at Albright Stonebridge consultancy.
Stavros Lambrinidis – current EU ambassador to the UN, previously Greek foreign minister and EU ambassador to the US.
David Miliband – former British politician and president of the International Rescue Committee.