Ambassador to the European Union, Gabriele Visentin, has confirmed that the EU and Australia have begun discussions around a security deal.
In his address to the National Press Club yesterday he confirmed that despite lukewarm feelings to the deal from Canberra, informal talks had begun over a proposed security arrangement.
This follows a meeting between federal defence minister Richard Marles and the EU's High Representative for Security Policy Kaja Kallas in Singapore.
During his Press Club address Visentin was asked if there was a positive attitude to the deal in Canberra. He gestured to his glass of water and joked “this glass is half-full”, as well as calling on both Australia and the EU to "team up and double down" on open market policies.
“European security and security in the Indo-Pacific are intertwined,” Visentin said.
“The security [of] Europe depends also on what is happening in the Indo-Pacific, and vice versa.”
Elaborating on the need for the deal, Visentin said that China's increased military presence in the region was a concern.
"We have seen maybe some worrying signs of military scaling up of China,” he said.
“[There’s] a clear link between the Chinese and the Russian visions of what the new international rules-based order should be.”
