Emmanuel Macron believes that the EU needs its own ‘real army’ to be independent from the United States. The European army should defend the continent against Russia, SkyNews reported.
The French President continues pushing the idea of creating the European Army. On Wednesday, Defence ministers from nine European countries are taking part in the meeting in Paris for the first time to begin discussions on how such a force would operate.
“We will not protect the Europeans unless we decide to have a true European army,” Mr Macron said in the interview at Verdun, the scene of France’s most bloody battle.
The political experts say that Macron’s remarks were partially fuelled by US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of a Cold War-era nuclear treaty. According to the French leader, if Donald Trump will quit a major disarmament treaty which was formed after the 1980s Euromissile crisis that hit Europe, the main victim will be Europe and its security.
Thus, President Macron has called for a “real European army” to defend the continent against China, America, and Russia, which is at EU’s borders and has shown that it can be a threat. The nine-country European force French leader has called for would be capable of rapidly mounting a joint military operation, an evacuation from a war zone, or providing aid after a natural disaster.
In the light of the continuous increasing the military budget over several years, EU should think about its own army. Europe is set to vastly expand its defence budget from 2021, allocating some €13bn over seven years to research and develop new equipment.
