EU Takes Concrete Steps Toward a Military

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini gives a press conference on the European Defense Action Plan at EU headquarters in Brussels on November 30. (JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images)

 

EU leaders say Europe needs a defense union so it can be a ‘superpower.’

Nations in the European Union have often talked about working together on defense. Many pro-EU politicians wanted some form of an EU army. But in terms of having actual, practical plans, they have had little success—until now.

On November 14, EU defense and foreign ministers agreed on concrete steps toward greater European military cooperation.

Erdogan threatens Europe: Pay up or face new flood of migrants

Turkey will open its border and allow a wave of migrants to flood into Europe unless the European Union pays the entire balance it promised Ankara for taking in millions of refugees, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.

Europe Riots Against … What?

Across Europe, the people are protesting. But they’re not fed up with a particular party or person. They’re rallying against the whole political system.

Between 100,000 and 200,000 people turned out to protest in Bulgaria last Sunday. That’s a lot of people for a small country—around 2 percent of the whole population. “Bulgarians rarely overcome their apathy to go out on the streets,” notes the EU Observer. “They don’t usually believe they can make a difference by protesting.”

What prompted them to turn out this time? The government had already stepped down a few days earlier. They were protesting against no one.

EU Needs Military to Become a Superpower, Says Poland

Although it’s going through a crisis, the new economic infrastructure groundwork is already being laid in for the next phase. The political differences are being worked out between nations who are willing to forge a new alliance and merge economic contributions. Some nations within the EU will stay, some will be shed. Many will be surprised to hear that China won’t be the next world leader. Enter the next superpower and make way for the United States of Europe — a last day’s 10 nation bloc with an army that no man has ever witnessed since the beginning of time. Today it’s being called upon and tomorrow it shall be formed.

Europe needs a new military structure to coordinate its combined operations, five EU nations said in a joint communique after a meeting in Paris on November 15. The foreign and defense ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain published the document to “confirm our readiness to foster an ambitious European policy in the field of security and defense.”

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski was surprisingly clear on his reasons for wanting a military. “If the EU wants to become a superpower, and Poland supports this, then we must have the capability to exert influence in our neighborhood. … Sometimes we must use force to back our diplomacy,” he said, according to the EU Observer.