The Seed For Another Cold War Is Planted

There is only one way to kick a bully's ass - gang up on him.

April 29, 2003

Four anti-war states to create EU
army

By Gareth Harding
UPI Chief European Correspondent


BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 29 (UPI) -- Four European
states that opposed the war on Iraq agreed Tuesday to pool
their armed forces and set up a military headquarters
independent of NATO in a move dismissed as unnecessary by
Britain.
Meeting in Brussels, the leaders
of France, Germany, Belgium and
Luxembourg signed up to a raft of
measures that could lead to a fully
fledged European Security and
Defense Union by the end of next
year.
The new alliance would commit
members to create a rapid-reaction
force capable of preventing
conflicts and managing crises
anywhere in the world, to set up a
European security and defense
college and arms procurement
agency, and to come to each
other's aid in the event of an attack
by another country.
French President Jacques Chirac, a staunch opponent of
the second Gulf War, said the proposals would "give Europe
the capacity to make a qualitative leap forward in its defense
policy."
But it is the plan to build an independent EU military
command center on the outskirts of Brussels that has sparked
the greatest controversy.
In a joint statement, the four countries -- which are all
founding members of the European Union -- agreed to "take
the necessary steps to establish, not later than 2004, a
multinational deployable force headquarters for joint operations,
building on existing deployable headquarters."
The leaders of the four states, dubbed the "coalition of the
unwilling" by critics, insisted that creating a stronger Europe did
not put the EU on a collision course with Washington, London
or other members of NATO.
"The transatlantic partnership remains an essential strategic
priority for Europe," the heads of state said in a statement that
described the roles of the EU and NATO as "complimentary."
However, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told
reporters a stronger EU defense arm was needed because
"within NATO we have very little of Europe."
Rejecting warnings from British Prime Minister Tony Blair
that the Belgian initiative could cement divisions between
Brussels and Washington, Chirac said: "In order to have
balance, we need a stronger European Union and a strong
United States."
At the end of a two-hour meeting in Brussels' Egmont
Palace, the four leaders invited other European leaders to join
them in creating an EU defense union to equal the economic
and monetary union that gave birth to the euro.
But the chances of the EU's other 11 states agreeing to
pool their armed forces and set up a rival military command
center to NATO appear slim.
Ireland, Sweden and Austria are all neutral, Denmark has
opted out of the EU's fledgling foreign and security policy
mechanisms and the leaders of Britain, Spain, Italy and the
Netherlands all distanced themselves from the Belgian-drafted
plan in advance of the mini-summit.
One British diplomat told United Press International that
London was glad to support any move that strengthened
Europe's military capabilities, but said there were "hard
questions to ask about the practical impact of duplicating
planning headquarters."
"The EU already has access to NATO planning facilities,"
said the official, referring to the ground-breaking deal struck
between the two Brussels-based blocs in December. "If you
have a structure which is working, why do you need to build
more on top of that?"
EU foreign ministers are due to give their first reaction to
the proposals at a weekend meeting in Greece.