NATO not amused by EU plan to create separate army

[Zarvan]

Reuters / Kacper Pempel

Army, EU, Military, NATO, Politics, Russia,Security
NATO says a plan by the European Union to create its own army would be ineffective. The military alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, says the EU should make sure everything they do is complimentary to NATO and avoid duplication.

Stoltenberg told a press briefing in Belgium that he would welcome an increased investment by European nations in defense, but this should be channeled towards NATO, adding that “duplication would be inefficient.”

"It's important to avoid duplication and I urge Europe to make sure that everything they do is complementary to the NATO alliance," he said, Reuters reported.

The idea of creating an EU army to counter the perceived threat from Russia was the brainchild of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who spoke of his ideas to a German newspaper on Sunday.





“An army like this would help us to better coordinate our foreign and defense policies, and to collectively take on Europe's responsibilities in the world," the European Commission he said in an interview to Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

The US supreme commander of NATO, General Philip Breedlove, said he was “not concerned” with Juncker’s comments, while also stressed of the need to “smartly invest” and “avoid duplication.”

He said: "I think we need to celebrate the great cooperation that we already have with the EU," pointing to work the two sides have done on fighting piracy off the Horn of Africa and supporting peace in Kosovo, the DPA news agency added.

Russian officials seemed nonplussed about the EU’s proposed plan, however, with lawmaker Leonid Slutsky saying the EU was paranoid about Russia.

"The European version of paranoia: declaring the establishment of a unified army to counterbalance Russia, which does not intend to go to war with anyone," he wrote on his Twitter feed.

Germany was the first country to support the idea voiced by Juncker. German government representative Christiane Wirtz said that Chancellor Angela Merkel was open to the project of a European Union joint army, but stressed that such a plan cannot be immediately realized.

However, there is an acceptance amongst even supporters of the proposed EU army that funding it could be a problem. This is especially apparent when looking at how NATO is having trouble reaching its own funding targets.


NATO has been keen to increase military spending within its bloc and has put pressure on member states to allocate at least two percent of their GDP to be spent on defense. In September, just two NATO members managed to reach this target, excluding the US and Britain. However, according to a think tank, the UK, one of the alliance’s strongest supporters will have trouble in reaching this target following May’s general election.

The report, conducted by the European Leadership Network (ELN), predicts Britain’s 2015-16 defense budget will likely drop to 1.88 percent of UK GDP – its lowest level since the fall of the Berlin Wall. According to NATO’s official website, its military budget for 2014 was €1.4 billion ($1.48 billion).

Meanwhile, a former deputy speaker of the Belgian parliament, Lode Vanoost, said the move would also be aimed against Washington. “Actually, this whole idea has historical precedents. Right after WWII, at the beginning of the Cold War, there was already an idea for the European defense community. That failed in 1954, and the Western European Union was founded. So the idea itself is not new at all.”

“The context today, of course, is different. The conservative forces within Europe want to establish themselves again as an entity next to the US. This idea floated by, and it is not just aimed at Russia, it is aimed at the US as well. Conservative forces don’t like the whole idea of America dominating Europe,” he told RT.

Alexander Neu, a Bundestag MP from Germany's Die Linke (Left) party, said that a European army is needed to loosen NATO grip on the continent.

"NATO is an instrument of American influence in Germany and the EU. It's the instrument that allows the US to fulfill its agenda in Europe. A united EU army would question the dominant positions of the US within NATO," the German MP said.
NATO not amused by EU plan to create separate army — RT News

 

[syedali73]

"NATO is an instrument of American influence in Germany and the EU. It's the instrument that allows the US to fulfill its agenda in Europe. A united EU army would question the dominant positions of the US within NATO," the German MP said.
NATO not amused by EU plan to create separate army — RT News

NATO is a guise, or should I say a polite and subtle way of US to keep her presence in Germany, just like she has maintained her occupation of Okinawa in Japan but such that many do not view (or accept) it as an occupation.

 

[SipahSalar]

NATO not amused at EU plan? You mean USA is not pleased. Because NATO is basically USA + Europe.

 

[Penguin]

NATO is a guise, or should I say a polite and subtle way of US to keep her presence in Germany, just like she has maintained her occupation of Okinawa in Japan but such that many do not view (or accept) it as an occupation.

What guise? Purpose was and is pretty openly declared:

The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom, is considered the precursor to the NATO agreement. The treaty and the Soviet Berlin Blockade led to the creation of the Western European Union's Defence Organization in September 1948.[10] However, participation of the United States was thought necessary both to counter the military power of the USSR and to prevent the revival of nationalist militarism, so talks for a new military alliance began almost immediately resulting in the North Atlantic Treaty, which was signed in Washington, D.C. on 4 April 1949. It included the five Treaty of Brussels states plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down."[

NATO - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Origins of the Cold War in Europe: International Perspectives - Google Boeken

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

NATO is a guise, or should I say a polite and subtle way of US to keep her presence in Germany, just like she has maintained her occupation of Okinawa in Japan but such that many do not view (or accept) it as an occupation.

NATO not amused at EU plan? You mean USA is not pleased. Because NATO is basically USA + Europe.

You're crazy. European nations cant even fund their own militarizes NATO is just a free-ride for them.

If European nations make a unitied defense pact, where does that leave the US? Will Poland pick a fight with Russia, call in the European Armies who will call in NATO, ie US.

 

[Superboy]

The US controls NATO just as Germany controls EU. The US will never allow EU to have a unified military.

 

[ArsalanKhan21]

European Union to create its own army

Good news for defense manufacturing companies and European unemployed youths to get decent jobs !

 

[East or West India Best]

We are not amused.

 

[Penguin]

The US controls NATO just as Germany controls EU. The US will never allow EU to have a unified military.

Oh yea of little understanding ..... If US wants to switch emphasis to Pacific, Atlantic side will have to be more self-reliant. There will never be a more substantive military contribution from Europe unless Euopean countries role-specialize, which by definition implies a unified military. Today's cost of (developing) military hardware prohibits all round militaries in individual European countries.

 

[chernomorets]

If the EU creates it's own military force, this will have been a command by the US. The USA owns the Western world, it's an American century, and the US doesn't have allies, only servants. The EU further centralizing would be for the US's benefit, it's easier to control 1 entity than multiple ones. All EU countries are basically de-facto federal subjects anyway, it's no surprise that there's a possibility of a "federal army" being formed for EU member states, to further undermine sovereignty.

 

[Tshering22]

NATO says a plan by the European Union to create its own army would be ineffective. The military alliance’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, says the EU should make sure everything they do is complimentary to NATO and avoid duplication.

Stoltenberg told a press briefing in Belgium that he would welcome an increased investment by European nations in defense, but this should be channeled towards NATO, adding that “duplication would be inefficient.”

"It's important to avoid duplication and I urge Europe to make sure that everything they do is complementary to the NATO alliance," he said, Reuters reported.

The idea of creating an EU army to counter the perceived threat from Russia was the brainchild of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who spoke of his ideas to a German newspaper on Sunday.

This should have been done long ago rather than continuation of NATO. But the reality is that the EU would never be able to hold on without American help. Not just against Russia but against anyone. Sorry to be rather blunt but European countries have come to terms against war. They are now more business centres than any countries capable of waging war against anyone or invading anyone.

NATO should have been disbanded long back and an EU Army under the command of Germany should have been established in the 90s itself.

This would have averted so many wars where EU could have refused participation and US would not have attacked.

The US controls NATO just as Germany controls EU. The US will never allow EU to have a unified military.

That was the point of souring relations between EU and Russia by creating Ukraine crisis. Washington was nervous when they saw Merkel, Cameron, Sarkozy and Putin sitting on the same table and planning an EU+Russia trade treaty.

Hence Ukraine fell into chaos and suddenly Russia became the villain.