As the United States looks to prioritize security challenges in East Asia, European allies will have to step up to ensure that their armed forces can deter great power aggression and, if necessary, defend their territorial integrity without asking for help from across the Atlantic. Last month, the European Council approved an ambitious new document,…
Rising international tensions and conflicts at the doorstep of Europe urge us to take our collective security into our own hands. Lately, four major Member States advocated making security and defence a top priority for the Union. I fully agree: since the beginning of the mandate of this Commission, we have placed our Common Security…
Early plans for a European army failed in the wake of World War II. EU states have since taken numerous small steps to integrate their armed forces, bringing the idea of a Europe-wide military ever closer to reality. Military treaties for a joint European army were signed just a few years after the end of…
France is leading a 10-country defense initiative in a bid to “face new threats” outside existing structures. Germany is wary that the project could entangle its military in foreign interventions and undermine the EU. Defense ministers from 10 European countries gathered in Paris on Wednesday to set the agenda for the European Intervention Initiative (EI2),…
Authored by Alex Gorka via The Strategic Culture Foundation, The predictions have come true about the emergence of a new defense group that will change the European security environment. On June 25, the defense chiefs from nine EU countries signed off on the creation of a new force called the European Intervention Initiative (EII), which is spearheaded by French…
France and Britain are among a European group of nine European countries signing letter of intent for a crisis defense initiative CREDIT: REUTERS Britain is to team up with France, Germany and other willing nations to launch an initiative to co-ordinate European military deployments outside the framework of the European Union. Nine nations, including Belgium, Denmark, the…
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/ Vice-President of the Commission Federica Mogherini (C-down) waits the start of the plenary session of the Informal meeting of defense ministers at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, Bulgaria, 05 May 2018. Bulgaria took over its first Presidency of the European Council from…