Australia to begin talks on security, defence with EU

18/6/2025 12:17

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday the country would commence negotiations on a security and defence partnership with the European Union, and was also hopeful of a "symbolically important" trade deal.



Albanese met with the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa on the sidelines of the G7 summit where they discussed the EU proposal for a defence partnership, which Australian officials said did not have military deployment obligations.



Albanese told a news conference in Kananaskis where he is attending the G7 summit, "We see this as an important framework for our current and future cooperation in areas like defence industry, cyber and counter-terrorism."



Albanese said, ministers from both sides will progress the talks in the coming weeks, adding he expected discussions to be concluded "pretty quickly".



He said in a later statement, the partnership could see joint defence procurement opportunities to benefit industry, and showed "how deeply connected Europe's security and the Indo-Pacific region have become."



The EU struck defence partnerships with Japan and South