"We, the Defence Ministers of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland,
Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United
Kingdom – members of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) – met
today in Amsterdam. We discussed the current situation in Ukraine
and explored how the JEF can respond to, and further mitigate,
the security threats to our nations, including Hybrid challenges.
We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to support the people of
Ukraine in the face of Russia’s appalling, illegal, unprovoked
attack; and stand with Ukraine to support its right to be a
sovereign, independent and democratic nation. The JEF Participant
Nations, along with our Allies and partners, are responding
decisively to provide military and humanitarian assistance, at
pace, to ensure Ukraine is best able to defend itself, and will
continue to do so as long as it takes.
We reiterate our standing commitment to preserving security and
stability in Northern Europe and reaffirm our strong cooperation
on tackling conventional and Hybrid threats from a military
perspective, primarily in the JEF Core Regions. Today we face
common challenges including Russian vessels mapping critical
undersea and offshore infrastructure, indicating preparations for
possible disruption and, at worst, sabotage.
Recalling the JEF Leaders’ Summit in Riga in December 2022 and
the JEF Defence Ministers’ meeting at Edinburgh Castle in
November 2022, we have today decided to accelerate cooperation in
the JEF in order to detect, deter and respond to threats against
our critical undersea and offshore infrastructure, reassure
Allies and demonstrate collective commitment to the security and
stability of Northern Europe; all in full alignment with NATO.
The JEF will specifically strengthen efforts with regard to
actively sharing tactical intelligence and Intelligence,
Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) information on possible
maritime threats to ensure a common situational awareness. JEF
Participant Nations will continue to cooperate closely, in
conjunction with NATO, to coordinate presence and will pool and
share capabilities to deter and respond to threats in the JEF
Core Regions. The JEF will include aspects of protecting critical
undersea and offshore infrastructure and assessed vulnerabilities
in future activities. Finally, JEF countries will share best
practices and seek ways to cooperate in their respective
approaches to the protection of critical undersea and offshore
infrastructure.
The JEF will ensure coordination, complementarity and alignment
with NATO on its ongoing work on the protection of critical
undersea infrastructure. Activities within the JEF will be
periodically reviewed, taking into account security developments
and efforts from international partners."
