Our commitment to Eastern partners, especially in response to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, has been further boosted. The EU candidate status and European perspective provide a solid basis to deepen our cooperation agendas, reads the EU's annual progress report on the Implementation of the Strategic Compass for Security and Defence, which was presented by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to the Council.

"The EU and its Member States have mobilised the entire scope of their instruments to support Ukraine, reaching at least EUR 67 billion in military, financial, economic and humanitarian support early February 2023. We held fruitful security and defence dialogues and consultations with Georgia and Moldova, and have provided both with concrete support through the EPF and other tools aiming to enhance their resilience, such as the hybrid threat survey. These efforts will intensify in the next months," reads the report.