Tag Archives: Romanian 81st Mechanized Brigade

Germany Is Quietly Building a European Army Under Its Command

Posted by aurelius77 on

[GETTY]

 

Berlin is using a bland name to obscure a dramatic shift in its approach to defense: integrating brigades from smaller countries into the Bundeswehr.

Every few years, the idea of an EU army finds its way back into the news, causing a kerfuffle. The concept is both fantasy and bogeyman: For every federalist in Brussels who thinks a common defense force is what Europe needs to boost its standing in the world, there are those in London and elsewhere who recoil at the notion of a potential NATO rival.

But this year, far from the headlines, Germany and two of its European allies, the Czech Republic and Romania, quietly took a radical step down a path toward something that looks like an EU army while avoiding the messy politics associated with it: They announced the integration of their armed forces. Continue reading →

German Army Continues to Swallow Its Neighbors

Posted by aurelius77 on

So far from what we’ve seen over the years, a European Army is shaping up with the following countries being participants or having some level of cooperation/integration:

  • Germany
  • France
  • the Netherlands
  • Romania
  • Czech Republic
  • Luxembourg
  • Poland

 

 

Czech Republic and Romania are sending major chunks of their armies to the Bundeswehr.

A Czech and Romanian brigade will be integrated into divisions of the German army. The agreement is to be signed at a meeting of NATO defense ministers tomorrow. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), which broke the story on February 2, wrote, “The Bundeswehr is developing into the leading NATO army in Europe.”

The agreement is the most dramatic of a series of arrangements Germany is negotiating to deepen its cooperation with other countries. The EU Observer summarized the FAZ’s report, noting, “The longer-term strategy would turn the Bundeswehr into the leading NATO army in Europe, with small countries integrating their military forces into the German command structures.”

Two thirds of the Dutch army’s command structure began to integrate into the German army last year. Continue reading →