Ten European countries have agreed to establish a new Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition, aiming to address one of Europe’s key defence gaps by accelerating the development of a shared missile defence capability.

Axar.az reports, citing foreign media, that in a joint declaration signed on Monday in Paris on the margins of the Coalition of the Willing meeting, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine and the United Kingdom said the initiative would create a “purely defensive” framework to strengthen Europe’s security through closer industrial, technological and military cooperation.

The coalition’s “Flagship Project” will focus on rapidly developing anti-ballistic missile capabilities, “complementing existing national and European missile defence systems” rather than replacing them.

The signatories stressed the initiative would bring together defence industries, research institutions and operational expertise to build a more integrated European missile defence architecture.