Brussels, NATO Headquarters, 22 June 2026. The Director General of the NATO International Military Staff (IMS), Lieutenant General Remigijus Baltrėnas welcomed the Director General of the European Union Military Staff (EUMS), Lieutenant General Michiel van der Laan for the biannual EUMS-IMS Directors' General Conference.

The 25th EUMS-IMS Directors' General Conference enabled both Directors General and their respective staffs to review progress on the joint work plan agreed between the EUMS and the IMS, exchange views on ongoing cooperation, and identify opportunities to further strengthen practical military staff-to-staff collaboration between the European Union and NATO.

Opening the conference, Lieutenant General Baltrėnas welcomed the EUMS delegation to NATO Headquarters and underlined the importance of continued and structured military dialogue between both staffs. He highlighted that, in the current security environment, NATO and the EU must continue to deepen cooperation, improve information exchange, and ensure coherence wherever their respective efforts are mutually reinforcing.

Taking the floor, Lieutenant General van der Laan thanked the NATO International Military Staff for hosting the conference and reaffirmed the European Union Military Staff's commitment to advancing practical cooperation with NATO. He emphasised that regular engagement between the two military staffs remains essential to address common security challenges, strengthen complementarity, and support effective cooperation across agreed areas of work.

The conference provided an opportunity for both staffs to report on the achievements and challenges related to the follow-on tasks agreed at the previous EUMS-IMS Directors' General Conference, held on 21 November 2025.

Discussions covered a broad range of areas, including intelligence-related exchanges, current operations and missions, defence capability and conceptual cooperation, space, military logistics, medical cooperation, communications and information systems interoperability, cyber defence, and gender perspective. Participants also exchanged updates on current operations and missions, including EU Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine) and the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU).

Further discussion focused on improving EU-NATO cooperation and information exchange, education, training and exercises, staff-to-staff expert meetings, and opportunities to enhance cooperation within existing arrangements and constraints. Particular attention was given to cooperation in capability development and burden-sharing, including considerations for future planning cycles, as well as future strategic communications alignment between the NATO IMS and the EUMS.

As the conference drew to a close, both sides welcomed the continued momentum in EUMS-IMS cooperation and acknowledged the importance of maintaining regular dialogue at all levels. The Directors General provided guidance on the way ahead, encouraging their staffs to continue advancing the agreed lines of effort and to identify practical opportunities for deeper cooperation.

The next EUMS-IMS Directors' General Conference will be hosted by the European Union Military Staff and is scheduled to take place on 20 November 2026.