EU to gather ‘brightest minds’ to boost defence as Russia threat grows

Published on

01/09/2026 - 16:54 GMT+2

The European Union is setting up a new high-level group of political and military leaders from member countries, the UK and Ukraine to work out how to boost Europe's defence capabilities as threats from Russia escalate.

Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, announced the initiative at an informal meeting of defence ministers in Ireland on Tuesday, saying it would help design a new approach to European defence.

"The aim is to have some of the brightest minds on security and defence come together and really provide out-of-the-box solutions on how we can be faster in fulfilling these gaps and how we can be more effective, especially now that the security situation in Europe is so much more real," Kallas told reporters at the press conference.