EU army warning: US and UK at risk from European military – MEP lifts lid on Macron’s plot
Macron criticised over push for EU army by Italian MEP
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Speaking to Express.co.uk, Peter Kofod claimed the French President’s vision for a unified defence corp in the EU could risk Europe its biggest allies within NATO, the US and the UK. The Danish People’s Party’s MEP dismissed the idea as “ridiculous” as he blasted the French leader’s “worrying” ambitions.
He said: “I have nothing nice to say about an EU army at all. First of all, it could jeopardise the relation with the US and also with Great Britain within NATO.
“They should be our strongest allies of all.
“Imagining an EU army without a common approach on the foreign policy…which is completely impossible to imagine in the European Union that we could actually agree on that…
“So why would you have an army in the first place?
“Second of all, how is France planning to pay for this?
“I mean it’s completely ridiculous.
“We’re talking about countries that never wanted to actually pay for the NATO alliance when we were obligated to it.
“It sounds to me like it’s more ideology or religion than it’s common sense.
“And that worries me a lot.”
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Emmanuel Macron has been a vocal advocate of Europe having its own defence force in recent years.
His position was underlined by French Minister for Europe Clement Beaune during an interview with French broadcaster CNews earlier this month.
In remarks which have likely raised eyebrows in the new administration of Joe Biden, Mr Beaune appeared to take a swipe at the new US President and question the USA’s commitment to Europe, while highlighting the threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Xi Jinping’s China.
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Mr Beaune said: “The American want to do less for European defence, the French want to do more for European defence.
“I think that’s the big European project for the years to come.
“Our European partners are close to this path.”
Mr Macron’s support for a European army has been well documented.
In 2018, during an event to commemorate the centenary of the World War 1 armistice he stressed the need for a “true, European army”, while insisting Europe could no longer rely on the US, then led by Donald Trump, who was defeated by Mr Biden in November.
Mr Macron said: “I want to build a real security dialogue with Russia, which is a country I respect, a European country – but we must have a Europe that can defend itself on its own without relying only on the United States.”
With reference to cyber-security, Mr Macron went further, suggesting the US could potentially be a hostile actor.
He added: “We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America.”
The French leader has however failed so far to convince his counterparts across the bloc.
Even the project for the Future Combat Air System signed with Germany and Spain is proving too difficult to complete for the French President.
Mr Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel are locking horns over the development of the joint fighter jet and some sources close to the project have warned the plans have become tangled in suspicion and divergences between Berlin and Paris.
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