On the "Defence Schengen" Europe does not have neither the money nor the desire to
European politicians have once again reminded of the need to create a unified army. Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti called for the creation of a "defense Schengen" between Germany, France, Spain and Italy. Experts are skeptical about the idea of such an alliance, noting that in fact Europe does not have the resources to its own military bloc.On Sunday, Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti said in an interview with the Messajero newspaper that European defense requires strengthening cooperation between Italy, France, Germany and Spain.
“European defense should be represented as a single bloc both inside and outside NATO. A Europe of “two speeds” should be not only in the economy. A “defense Schengen” is needed at the expense of strengthening cooperation between Italy, France, Germany and Spain, ”the Italian Defense Minister TASS quoted as saying.
According to Pinotti, European defense should be strengthened regardless of the behavior of the United States.
“European defense should be strengthened not only in order to increase the defensive capabilities of the EU, but because if inside NATO the European states act separately, it will be an element of weakness. It is also important for NATO that Europe be united in a defensive strategy, ”the minister added.
Pinotti considers it important that the countries, which promote the strengthening of the common defense, namely Italy, Germany, France and Spain, have cooperated even more for the early implementation of the decisions taken.
Dreams of a unified EU army
Recall that this is not the first statement by European politicians about the need to create their own army. In March, 2015, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker stated in an interview with the Welt am Sonntag newspaper about the need to create a European Union’s own army as a tool to defend Europe’s interests in the world. “A common European army would show the world that there will never be a war between EU member states. Such an army would help us implement a common foreign and security policy, ”Juncker then said.
Only with its own army, the European Union will be able to respond to the threat of EU member states or neighboring countries, Juncker said. The list of threats, of course, is Russia. “The EU army is needed not to activate it immediately, but to hint to Russia that we are serious about protecting the values of the European Union,” Juncker said.
Then the idea of the head of the European Commission was supported in Germany. Europe wants to defend its security architecture, and therefore it makes sense to create a single army for all EU member states, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said. EU countries are increasingly joining forces, including in matters of security policy. “For such an interweaving of armies with the prospect of ever having (common) a European army, in my opinion, the future,” she said in an interview with German radio station Deutschlandfunk.
“We must do everything to prevent the destruction of the world order that we built in Europe after World War II and after the Cold War,” she added.
One more time Junker remembered the need for a unified European army in August last year. “We need a common European foreign policy, security policy and a common European defense policy with the goal of once creating a European army to be able to fulfill our role in the world,” Juncker said at a forum in Austria. His speech was broadcast by the services of the European Commission.
“Tantrums of the ruling Western European elite”
A military expert from Riga, Yuri Melkonov, considers the statements of politicians about the creation of a single European army "the hysteria of the ruling Western European elite."
“The refusal of the United States to pay for the defense of Europe put the Western countries in an extremely uncertain position. Alone, none of the European countries will be able to ensure their security, and the whole experience stories he says that European countries could never really unite into military alliances, except for short-term alliances, and that only with the involvement of Russia, ”he commented to the VIEW newspaper on a statement by the Italian defense minister.
Melkonov noted that a military alliance implies a military adversary, while Italy, France, Germany and Spain do not have such an adversary and no one is going to create it. In addition, the expert believes that these countries have a huge number of contradictions and with the weakening of the role of the United States and NATO, they will all be exacerbated, and even avalanche-like. "This is about the collapse of the bank - all investors will rush to save their deposits," - he explained.
In addition, the expert believes, the impending crisis may cause the collapse of the euro and the economic crisis and "this is much more dangerous than the advance of the hordes of enemy armies."
“In the modern world there is a lot of uncertainty, the United States should define its role in the overall security and economic system. In the US, the main soldier is the dollar, if not, then everything else is secondary. Never was Europe united. The United States bought an expensive European military toy, but cannot keep it endlessly, ”the military expert concluded.
The imaginary Russian threat
Viktor Murakhovsky, editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine, in turn, recalled that Europeans recall the need to create their own military associations from the time of de Gaulle.
“And all this time the idea of creating a single European army is being implemented in the form of pshik. There was a time when France left the NATO military organization, but other European countries did not support its idea. All sorts of united eurocorps, which are part of NATO, were regularly created and created. For example, there are joint French-German formations, ”said a military expert to the VZGLYAD newspaper. According to Murakhovsky, all these attempts are an empty game. “As long as NATO exists and the United States dominates this alliance, no more or less independent or even more alternative alternative to the North Atlantic alliance of the European military coalition will be created. All the statements of European politicians about the "military Schengen", the combined armed forces and the European army are empty air shaking, "he explained.
In addition, according to Murakhovski, in reality there is no need for Europeans against someone to unite.
“There is no such threat that requires the creation of such alliances. Here, for example, in the media, a hysteria about the Russian threat periodically rises. To combat this threat, as many as three battalions were deployed in the Baltic countries and an entire rotational brigade of the US Army in Poland, the Baltic States and Romania was spread. When people propose to fight real aggression, they make several other efforts. During the Cold War, 12 divisions, the seventh US field army, British and French divisions were deployed within Germany alone, ”the expert said. He believes that, in fact, now real leaders and politicians really do not believe in Russia or in any other threat to Europe and are not going to allocate any funds for the creation of new alliances.
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