After French president Emmanuel Macron recently proposed the idea, US
president Donald Trump disparaged it (in a tweet, of course), but
German chancellor Angela Merkel endorsed it (while urging caution).
The issue came to the fore this month with the centennial of the end of the First World War, which naturally focused Europeans’ attention on matters of war and peace. While touring the war battlefields, Macron observed that “peace in Europe is precarious”, and that “we will not protect Europeans unless we decide to have a true European army”.
The goal of establishing a European army dates back to the earliest stages of European integration after the Second World War.
In 1954, the French parliament refused to ratify a treaty that would have established a European Defence Community and joint military force comprising West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Although the US has expanded its military capabilities in Europe in recent years, it has previously regarded the continent primarily as a platform for operations in other theaters. And now that Trump has cast doubt on America’s commitment to defend Europe, renewed proposals for a European army should come as no surprise.
Read more: European army may march on immediate and future threats | Irish Examiner
The issue came to the fore this month with the centennial of the end of the First World War, which naturally focused Europeans’ attention on matters of war and peace. While touring the war battlefields, Macron observed that “peace in Europe is precarious”, and that “we will not protect Europeans unless we decide to have a true European army”.
The goal of establishing a European army dates back to the earliest stages of European integration after the Second World War.
In 1954, the French parliament refused to ratify a treaty that would have established a European Defence Community and joint military force comprising West Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.
Although the US has expanded its military capabilities in Europe in recent years, it has previously regarded the continent primarily as a platform for operations in other theaters. And now that Trump has cast doubt on America’s commitment to defend Europe, renewed proposals for a European army should come as no surprise.
Read more: European army may march on immediate and future threats | Irish Examiner
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