Tag Archives: european defence

A Common European Army: instructions for use

Le HuffingtonPost.fr, March 19, 2015, InformNapalm (fr), March 19, 2015, InformNapalm (en), March 19, 2015, InformNapalm (es), March 22, 2015, European Sotnia, March 22, 2015, Strade, March 24, 2015

Beginning with the observation that « with regards to foreign policy, we (Europeans) do not seem to be taken seriously » 1 Jean-Claude Juncker has made it clear in a recent interview with Germany’s Welt am Sonntag, that the European Union must have a common army. According to the President of the European Commission, the mere decision to equip itself with such an instrument would allow the EU to « send a clear signal to Russia that we (Europeans) are serious about defending European values » and would put the EU in a position to react « credibly » to threats to peace in a Member State or in a State bordering the Union. The words he used are of paramount importance. Juncker does not refer to a single European army that would replace the national armies; he is talking about a common European army. At no time does he say that all Member States would have to participate in such an undertaking. And finally, he makes it clear that a common army would not represent a “challenge” to NATO. Lire la suite →

Notes:

  1. « Halten Sie sich an Frau Merkel. Ich mache das! » Welt am Sonntag, 8 March 2015 ↩

Mistrals to defend Europe

Le HuffingtonPost, 8 août 2014, Strade, 8 août 2014

Non-existence of a European strategy: Act 1. In April 2008, at the NATO summit in Bucharest, France and Germany opposed the integration of Georgia into NATO. A few months later, the Russian army invaded South Ossetia and marched towards Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. The offensive stopped suddenly.

Was it the result of the (some would say late) intervention of Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the EU at the time, or the consequence of a previous effort of American diplomacy? The question remains unanswered. Nevertheless, by recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the Russian authorities carried out the integration/annexation of these two territories under another guise.

Shortly after that, in 2011, President Sarkozy – in spite of insistent warnings 1 – decided to sell two Mistral-class assault carriers to Russia. Lire la suite →

Notes:

  1. Mostly from philosopher André Glucksmann ↩