Ukraine Invited as Observer to Joint Expeditionary Force Training

Friday, 13 October 2023

Members of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a group of ten Northern European states led by the United Kingdom, invited Ukraine as an observer to their training in 2024 and 2025. 

Heads of the JEF states have also condemned Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine in their joint statement after the summit in Sweden. It has strengthened the importance of NATO and the Joint Expeditionary Force "as a means of ensuring regional security for their members." 

"The security of Ukraine is an integral part of the security of the Euro-Atlantic region. Therefore, we undertake to support Ukraine on the path of Euro-Atlantic integration to future membership in NATO," the leaders added. 

"In the interests of collective security and interoperability, as well as to support the defence of Ukraine against the illegal invasion of Russia, we also agree to promote the strengthening of defence-industrial cooperation in Europe and across the Atlantic, as well as to reduce barriers to defence trade and investment in the Euro-Atlantic region, where it is appropriate," JEF leaders added. 

The Joint Expeditionary Force is a multinational expeditionary force created in 2015 by the United Kingdom, covering the military of the Baltic States and all of Northern Europe, including Iceland, as well as the Netherlands. 

Speaking at the JEF summit on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed the opinion that Ukraine's successful resistance to Russian aggression opens up prospects for Georgia to be able to return its occupied territories in the future.

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