The UK parliament on Tuesday voted to reject an agreement on Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, in the biggest ever defeat of a modern government in the House of Commons. It was a major blow to Prime Minister Theresa May and her Brexit plans.

Lawmakers in the parliament’s lower House of Commons voted by 432 to 202 to reject the withdrawal agreement. The loss by 230 votes far exceeds the previous record for a defeat which was held by the Labour government of Ramsay Macdonald, crushed by 166 votes in 1924.

May speaking to a crowded House of Commons

“The house has spoken and the government will listen,” May said, immediately after the vote.

“It is clear that the house does not support this deal but tonight’s vote tells us nothing about what it does support,” May added.

What will happen next

• May has three days to outline her response to the rejected withdrawal agreement.
• Her government will face a no confidence vote on Wednesday after opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn submitted the motion following the failed vote.
• The EU will intensify preparations for a Brexit in March without a withdrawal agreement.

May to hold cross-party talks

The immediate prospect for May is a cabinet meeting with her ministers on Wednesday morning when she may be encouraged to resign due to the magnitude of the defeat in the House of Commons.

If she is encouraged to stay on as premier, she will face a vote of confidence after Prime Minister’s Question Time in parliament at midday.

If May survives that, her office has said her ministers will contact her own Conservative back-bench MPs and senior members of opposition parties to find some basis for support, using her defeated deal as a starting point.

Pro- and anti-Brexit demonstrators were outside parliament during the vote

EU to escalate Brexit preparations

The European Union will intensify its preparations for a scenario in which Britain leaves the bloc without a withdrawal agreement, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday.

“The risk of a disorderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom has increased with this evening’s vote,” Juncker said in a statement following the British parliament’s rejection of a Brexit deal with the EU.

“While we do not want this to happen, the European Commission will continue its contingency work to help ensure the EU is fully prepared,” Juncker said.

Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel said on Twitter his country was also stepping up its planning for a Brexit no-deal.

The calls for another vote on Brexit have increased

EU Council President Donald Tusk said the only positive solution after the British parliament decisively rejected May’s Brexit agreement is for Britain to stay in the EU.

“If a deal is impossible, and no one wants no deal, then who will finally have the courage to say what the only positive solution is?” Tusk tweeted after the vote.

law/jm (AP, Reuters)

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/brexit-what-happens-next/a-47096780

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Defense ministers from 10 European countries gathered in Paris on Wednesday to set the agenda for the European Intervention Initiative (EI2), a defense coalition spearheaded by French President Emmanuel Macron.

“To face new threats, Europe needs a strong defense,” the French Defense Ministry said in a tweet after the meeting. “With the European Intervention Initiative, 10 European countries are committed to its protection.”

EI2’s goal is to create a results-based common strategic culture that allows for rapid response joint military operations, including in humanitarian efforts. As such, it is not aimed at establishing a supranational European army.

However, as an initiative outside EU and NATO frameworks, the French Defense Ministry has tried to alleviate concerns that it would undermine defense structures in the bloc and alliance.

“With the European Intervention Initiative, the whole European Union and the European pillar in NATO will also be strengthened,” it added.

Read more: Is Europe bold enough to counter US ambivalence?

Germany’s role in NATO

West Germany officially joined the trans-Atlantic alliance in 1955. However, it wasn’t until after reunification in 1990 that the German government considered “out of area” missions led by NATO. From peacekeeping to deterrence, Germany’s Bundeswehr has since been deployed in several countries across the globe in defense of its allies.

Bosnia: Germany’s first NATO mission

In 1995, Germany participated in its first “out of area” NATO mission as part of a UN-mandated peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the deployment, German soldiers joined other NATO member forces to provide security in the wake of the Bosnian War. The peacekeeping mission included more than 60,000 troops from NATO’s member states and partners.

Keeping the peace in Kosovo

Since the beginning of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, some 8,500 German soldiers have been deployed in the young country. In 1999, NATO launched an air assault against Serbian forces accused of carrying out a brutal crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists and their civilian supporters. Approximately 550 Bundeswehr troops are still stationed in Kosovo.

Patrolling the Aegean Sea

In 2016, Germany deployed its combat support ship “Bonn” to lead a NATO mission backed by the EU in the Aegean Sea. The mission included conducting “reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance of illegal crossings” in Greek and Turkish territorial waters at the height of the migration crisis. Germany, Greece and Turkey had requested assistance from the trans-Atlantic alliance.

More than a decade in Afghanistan

In 2003, Germany’s parliament voted to send Bundeswehr troops to Afghanistan in support of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Germany became the third-largest contributor of troops and led the Regional Command North. More than 50 German troops were killed during the mission. Nearly a thousand soldiers are still deployed in Afghanistan as part of Resolute Support.

German tanks in Lithuania

Forming part of NATO’s “enhanced forward presence” in the Baltic states, 450 Bundeswehr soldiers have been deployed to Lithuania so far in 2017. The battalion-size battlegroups there are led by Germany, Canada, the UK and US to reinforce collective defense on the alliance’s eastern flank. It forms the “biggest reinforcement of Alliance collective defence in a generation,” according to NATO.

Taking over the leadership

The Bundeswehr is due to take over leadership of NATO’s multinational Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) at the start of 2019. The rapid reaction force has been set up to counter potential Russian aggression on the alliance’s eastern flank.

Author: Lewis Sanders IV

Germany felt pressured’

But France’s efforts have done little to placate concerns in Berlin, which Paris sees as a pivotal actor in the initiative.

Claudia Major, senior international security associate at the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), told DW that German officials are wary because “it’s explicitly and deliberately organized and set up outside the European Union’s structures.”

“For the Germans, making a deliberate attempt to setting up something meaningful outside the EU’s structures — and outside NATO — is not seen as a positive move but rather as undermining the EU,” Major said.

“In the end, Germany felt pressured to agree and engage in the initiative, because otherwise all the talk about France and Germany being the engine of Europe and the heart of Europe, and driving European integration and cooperation forward, would look cheap, wouldn’t it?”

Read more: Changing Europe revives interest in an EU military

France’s Emmanuel Macron has pushed for less European reliance on US defense

Fear of ‘military adventures’

Observers have suggested the initiative poses other challenges for Germany, especially in terms of possible military interventions abroad. Others have even highlighted that the French-led initiative could be used as a means to reinforce Paris’ foreign policy objectives.

“Berlin has watered down every French proposal for fear of being drawn into ill-considered military adventures in Africa,” Philipp Rotmann, associate director of the Global Public Policy Institute, told DW.

“But I haven’t heard any ambitious, practical proposals from Paris, either — so either the French were too timid in the face of German opposition, or they just hoped that everyone would sign up to taking over the French way of when and how to use military force.”

Due to Germany’s wartime past, the country’s armed forces, known as the Bundeswehr, must receive parliamentary approval for military operations on foreign soil. German officials are worried this could be muddied by elements of the initiative.

Bundeswehr sources have also pointed to France’s decision to disengage militarily in other areas, including Afghanistan and Kosovo, as a cautionary sign of the initiative’s purpose, according to the Reuters news agency.

Read more: How does Germany contribute to NATO?

Change on the horizon

Wednesday’s meeting came a day after Macron called for a “real European army” to be established as a means to wean Europe off of US defense guarantees, especially after US President Donald Trump threatened to moderate Washington’s commitment to the continent.

“We need a Europe which defends itself better alone, without just depending on the United States,” Macron said.

The initiative comprises Germany, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Portugal, Finland and France. While dreams of a supranational European military force remain elusive, Macron’s vision for a flexible defense coalition may be just around the corner, even with a cautious Germany.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW’s editors send out a selection of the day’s hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.

Union within a union

With 25 of the EU’s current 28 member states joining the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), there seems to be a great deal of consensus among member states but a few remain on the fence. The new defense union is expected to address immediate threats without having to rely on NATO for all of the EU’s defense needs.

High expectations

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had been campaining for PESCO for several years. He expects the new military pact to deliver a “European Security and Defence Union (which) will help protect our Union, which is exactly what EU citizens expect.”

A ‘new era’ for European security

EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Chief Federica Mogherini welcomed the establishment of PESCO as the dawn of a “new era.” Mogherini further described the initiative as “an inclusive framework to facilitate the joint investments and projects that we so much need to strengthen the ability of the European Union to be a credible security provider for its citizens and globally.”

Franco-German foundations

French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen are among the chief supporters of the PESCO defense union. Von der Leyen stressed that with the United States taking a critical stance on NATO, launching Europe’s very own defense initiative was “important – especially after the election of the US President,” referring to Presiden Donald Trump.

A new direction

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (pictured left) welcomed the launch of PESCO in the face of those fears over US President Donald Trump’s commitment to the transatlantic defense alliance. Stoltenberg said that PESCO will “strengthen the European pillar within NATO” adding that it will be “good for NATO” as well.

Left outside

The majority of EU states signed up to PESCO. Malta still mulling over it, Denmark has opted out for the time being, and the UK is expected to reject the proposal, as it is set to leave the EU by 2019. Prime Minister Theresa May is free to join PESCO at a later date however – even after Brexit – if the terms of that cooperation would benefit the entire EU.

EU soldiers?

It is unclear to what extent there will be concrete military cooperation between EU states, as is the case with the EUFOR peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The signing of PESCO initially provides only the framework for expanded collaboration and more efficient spending of military funds.

Author: Sertan Sanderson

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-cautious-as-france-leads-european-defense-initiative/a-46201409

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European countries in the Mediterranean like Greece, Italy and more recently Spain feel abandoned to manage the influx alone, and tensions over how best to handle migrant numbers — which pale in comparison to refugee arrivals in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan — have increasingly fueled support for far-right parties in Europe.

“We can’t just say that a country with a border on the sea is suddenly the only one responsible” for migrants, said Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel. “The problem is European and the solution should be a European one as well.”

Amid the standoff over quotas, momentum is gathering for countries to pay more money — for example to countries like Greece and Italy, or fund development aid — instead of hosting refugees.

“We’re recommending that instead of mandatory quotas that we go the way of solidarity. This means that each country will provide a contribution where it is possible and where it makes sense,” said Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency until the end of the year.

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani said such a shift might work.

“It’s possible, no refugees but more money,” he told reporters, adding that it must be substantial funds, “not nothing, not peanuts.”

“It’s better an agreement with a compromise than no agreement,” he added.

However, migration experts and nonprofits doubt whether any scheme would work without actually sharing out refugees.

As the EU looks abroad for a solution, Egypt has appeared a prime candidate for a new partnership. Kurz and European Council President Donald Tusk have held talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, a top army general who took office in 2014. Both men praised him for stopping people from leaving its coast on their way to Europe.

The aim would be to get the Egyptian coast guard to patrol the waters off Libya — the main point for migrants leaving for Italy — and take any rescued people back to Africa.

In response to criticism that it’s neglecting migrants and their rights, the bloc has said that it works closely with the U.N.’s refugee agency and the International Organization for Migration.

But both agencies underline that, even though numbers have dropped, more people are dying at sea than ever — more than 1,700 people so far this year — and that the migrant debate has become “dangerously toxic” in some parts of Europe.

“The current tenor of the political debate – painting a picture of Europe under siege – is not only unhelpful but completely out of touch with reality,” U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a joint statement. “We cannot forget that we are talking about human lives. Debate is welcome – scapegoating refugees and migrants for political gain is not.”

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David Rising in Berlin contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2018/10/18/eu-leaders-plan-beef-up-borders-stop-flow-migrants/

[Disclaimer]

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Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker agreed to work toward eliminating tariffs and barriers on trade, reducing tensions for now in a brewing trade war.

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EU news: Germany and France indifferent toward Brussels offer to Donald Trump

Mr Juncker, the EU’s most senior official, is jetting out to Washington to meet with the US President on July 25 in a bid to heal growing transatlantic trade divisions.

Only last week, Mr Trump declared the EU his “foe”, leading to accusations from Europe that the American is attempting to sow seeds of discord through the 28-member bloc.

The American told CBS News: “I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade. Now, you wouldn’t think of the European Union, but they’re a foe.”

Mr Trump also recently advised French President Emmanuel Macron he should leave the EU in order to strike a better trade deal with the US.

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New Italian PM agrees with US president that Kremlin should be back at the table.

LA MALBAIE, Canada — Italy’s new prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, broke sharply with the EU on Friday at his first international summit, and joined U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for Russia to be reinstated to the exclusive club of industrialized nations.

Trump called for Russia’s reinstatement as he left the White House to travel to the G7 leaders’ meeting in Quebec.

The Western powers and Japan ejected Russia from the G8 in 2014 in response to the Kremlin’s invasion, and subsequent annexation, of Crimea.

Conte posted his support for Trump’s view on Twitter, apparently between meetings with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. It’s unclear if Tusk or Juncker were aware of Conte’s statement before their meetings.

At a news conference, Tusk and Juncker mostly sidestepped questions about Conte’s position, saying they expected there would be overall agreement on Russia policy. But they also pushed back on Trump’s suggestion that Russia rejoin the club.

“I see a lot of speculation about G6 plus 1 or G7 minus 1, or G7 plus one,” Tusk said. “But let’s leave seven as it is. It’s a lucky number. At least in our culture.”

Tusk added that the G7 faced enough obstacles in their quest for unified positions without adding Russia back into the mix. Juncker, meanwhile, noted that EU leaders were re-engaging Russia in other formats, such as a recent economic forum in St. Petersburg attended by French President Emmanuel Macron.

But he said Russia still had to be held accountable for its actions.

“As we see it, Russia is in violation of international law because of its annexation of Crimea, equally because of what it has done in the east of Ukraine,” Juncker said. “Over and above that, of course, there are good reasons leaving these factors aside to renew our relationship with Russia and this is something which we intend to do,” he said. “I expect that it will be something we discuss.”

“But,” he added, “we need to take a stand against an aggressive approach and aggressive action on the part of Russia.”

Since Russia’s ejection, Western nations, including the U.S. and all EU countries, have been unified in the need to maintain economic sanctions and other pressure on Russia over its military intervention in Ukraine, in Crimea and in the eastern Donbas region, where the Kremlin continues to support an armed insurgency.

–Other G7 powers have not indicated any willingness to ease the pressure on Russia.–

Conte’s statement adds further diplomatic chaos to the G7 leaders’ summit, which was already descending into a chaotic war of words on Twitter. Trump on Thursday lashed out at the summit host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and French President Emmanuel Macron, who criticized Trump for imposing unilateral tariffs on steel and aluminum.

While Trump was still traveling, and expected to arrive late at the summit, his comment calling for Russia to be reinstated is certain to further inflame tensions in Quebec.

On the South Lawn of the White House, Trump claimed to be Putin’s worst nightmare but then said “Russia should be in this meeting. Why are we having a meeting without Russia being in the meeting? And I would recommend, and it’s up to them, but Russia should be in the meeting. They should be a part of it.

“You know, whether you like it or not — and it may not be politically correct — but we have a world to run. And in the G7, which used to be the G8, they threw Russia out. They should let Russia come back in. Because we should have Russia at the negotiating table.” It was unclear what negotiation Trump had in mind.

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, Dmitry Peskov, who was on an official trip to China, told reporters Russia was focused “on other formats.”

Other G7 powers have not indicated any willingness to ease the pressure on Russia, and the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, has worked hard to maintain unity on the issue in Brussels.

Conte’s statement will be especially problematic for Mogherini, who is Italian.

The first draft of the contract drawn up between the two parties in Conte’s government — the far-right League and the anti-establishment 5 Star Movement — contained a line calling for the end of Russian sanctions “immediately.” The text was amended in later versions.

In his first speech in the Italian parliament this week, Conte said that Italy remains a committed NATO partner but he added that “we will promote a revising of sanctions, starting with those that demean Russia’s civil society.”

Yet he didn’t indicate whether this should take place ‘immediately.” That’s because Rome has not yet decided whether to veto the rolling over of the sanctions during a meeting of EU leaders at the end of the month.

“We have to think about it,” said the League’s leader Matteo Salvini on Thursday at a reception at the Russian embassy in Rome.

Russia had been scheduled to host the G8 summit in 2014, and was planning to hold the leaders’ gathering in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi, which was also the site of the Winter Olympics that year. Instead, officials quickly rescheduled the G7 summit for Brussels, the capital of the European Union, which participates in both the G7 and the G20 but normally does not host summits. Russian remains a part of the G20.

Source: https://www.politico.eu/article/conte-trump-russia-g8-breaks-with-eu-backs-call-for-to-return/

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