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– EuroArmy...For Peace or
War?
NATO chief would not rule out EU
states going to war
By Honor Mahony
The head of NATO has suggested that the EU's battle groups could be used
for going to war.
In an interview with El Pais on Thursday (10 March), Jaap de Hoop
Scheffer indicated he did not believe that the battle groups - the first
of which are due to be operational in 2007 - would only be used for
peacekeeping, as EU officials suggest.
"Why is the EU creating battle groups? It is not just to help rebuild a
country".
"It may be, that to keep the peace, combat is necessary. If the EU
creates battlegroups and NATO a rapid-reaction force, I would say we
shouldn't think the EU is for soft power and NATO for tough power", said
Mr de Hoop Scheffer.
According to EU plans, the 13 battle groups will contain 1,500 soldiers
each and are to be mobilized within 10 days to trouble spots around the
world.
They will operate within a 6000 km radius and will be equipped to stay
in an area for up to four months.
Any suggestion of the battle groups be used to go to war is likely to be
strongly resisted by neutral countries such as Sweden, Finland and
Ireland - all 25 member states have to give their approval before the EU
may engage in military operations.
According to the new EU Constitution, if it is adopted, the EU's
military capabilities can be used for ""joint disarmament operations,
humanitarian and rescue tasks, military advice and assistance tasks,
conflict prevention and peacekeeping tasks, tasks of combat forces in
crisis management, including peacemaking and post-conflict stabilization
[Art. III-309]".
Among EU-managed operations to date have been a mission to the
Democratic Republic of Congo in 2003 and the taking over from NATO in
Bosnia at the end of last year.
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