When Europe’s defence ministers gathered in Brussels this week, all eyes were on the newcomer: Sylvie Goulard, the former liberal MEP who had been appointed France’s armed forces minister less than 24 hours earlier.
But the meeting – to discuss ways of boosting EU-Nato cooperation and the use of joint EU battle groups – was remarkable for more than that. All five of the bloc’s largest economies, apart from Britain, were represented by women.
Besides Goulard, Germany’s Ursula von der Leyen, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert of the Netherlands, Italy’s Roberta Pinotti and María Dolores de Cospedal of Spain topped a table chaired by the EU foreign affairs and security chief, Federica Mogherini.
Sergey Kuzhugetovich Shoygu (Russian: born 21 May 1955) is a Russian politician and General of the army who has served in the Government of Russia as Minister of Defence since 2012.