European Leaders Ready to Shrink the EU

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The EU needs to unify quickly—and the easiest way forward is for a core group to leave the rest behind.

European leaders agreed last week that a core group of European nations must move rapidly toward unity, leaving the rest of the 28-member bloc behind. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at an EU summit in Malta on February 3, “The history of recent years has shown that there will be a multi-speed EU, and not all members will participate in the same steps of integration.”

New German Paper Signals Dramatic Military Shift

Germany officially casts off postwar military restraint and promises to help ‘in shaping the global order.’

Germany has gone through a radical transformation in how it views its military. In May 2010, German President Horst Köhler said that “a country of our size needs to be aware that … military deployment, too, is necessary if we are to protect our interests such as ensuring free-trade routes or preventing regional instabilities.” At that time, the idea that Germany would use its army to protect economic interests was so controversial that he was forced to resign.

Iran backs Turkey’s Erdogan as massive crackdown widens

A senior aide to Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Teheran backs Turkey’s elected government and expects Ankara to do the same when it comes to Syria.

“We disagree with Turkey on some issues, like Syria. We are hopeful that the Turkish government respects the Syrian people’s opinion and votes and lets the Syrian nation choose their government,” Ali Akbar Velayati was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.

Is Europe Finally Ready for an Army?

Caption: European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker (OHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

 

 

After the Paris attacks, Europe’s calls for a combined military could finally happen.

Europe is secretly plotting to create a European army, some British newspapers have been proclaiming over the last week. “Britain Will Be Forced to Join an EU ARMY Unless We Leave, Says Armed Forces Minister” read a headline on the Express. Meanwhile, other news outlets have been quick to discredit the idea. “[I]s there a serious, imminent chance of this happening?” asked The Guardian. It answered its question in just one word: “No.”

It’s easy to see why they are so dismissive. Leaders of the European Union have been talking about forming a European army for over half a century, and it’s still not here.

But none of these articles examine why the subject of an EU army has come up again. A look behind the headlines reveals why Europe might actually make some real progress toward a combined military this time.

NATO’s Weakness Will Make Europe Stronger

A German blitzkrieg force in Poland symbolizes Europe’s new military direction.

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To half of the alliance, the Cold War is over. To the other half, it’s back on. Seventy percent of Poles say they view Russia has a major threat, according to a Pew poll published in June. For Germany, it was a little over half that.

This dissonance is at the core of NATO’s weakness. And it was exposed in last month’s Pew poll.

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Collective defense is at the heart of NATO, under its Article V. But in only two countries out of the eight surveyed, did a majority say they felt they should honor that commitment: the United States and Canada. In Poland and the United Kingdom, those in support fell only slightly short of a majority.

Germany Is Building a European Army Before Your Eyes

The Dutch army is made up of three brigades, plus support staff and Special Forces. On June 12, one of those brigades, the 11th Airmobile, officially joined the German army.

This was the first time ever that European country has handed part of its army over to another country. “Never before has a state renounced this elementary and integral part of its sovereignty,” wrote Die Welt’s political editor Thorsten Jungholt.

Now, Germany is making it clear that this was not an isolated event. Instead, it is a pattern Germany intends to follow as it absorbs more units from foreign militaries. “Germany is driving the European Army Project” was the title of Jungholt’s Die Welt article.