EU should enable military coalitions to tackle crises, Germany says

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FILE PHOTO: European Union flags flutter outside the EU Commission headquarters in Brussels

BRDO, Slovenia (Reuters) -Germany called on the European Union on Thursday to enable coalitions of the willing within the bloc to rapidly deploy a military force in a crisis as members discussed the lessons learned after the chaotic evacuation from Afghanistan.


EU efforts to create a rapid reaction force have been paralysed for more than a decade, despite the creation in 2007 of a system of battlegroups of 1,500 troops that have never been used due to disputes over funding and a reluctance to deploy.


But the exit of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan has brought the subject back into the spotlight https://www.reuters.com/world/afghanistan-pullout-spurs-eu-revive-rapid-reaction-force-2021-09-01.


“Sometimes there are events that catalyse history, that create a breakthrough, and I think that Afghanistan is one of these cases,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in Slovenia, adding he hoped for a plan in October or November.


Borrell urged the bloc to create a rapidly deployable “first entry force” of 5,000 troops to reduce dependence on the United States.

The proposal from Germany, one of the strongest military powers in the EU but historically reluctant to send its forces into combat, would rely on a joint decision by the bloc but not necessarily all 27 members deploying their forces.


“In the EU, coalitions of the willing could act after a joint decision of all,” German Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer said in a tweet as she and her EU counterparts met in Slovenia.


A rapid reaction force is seen as more likely now that Britain has exited the bloc. Britain, one of Europe’s main military powers alongside France, had been sceptical of collective defence policy.


EU diplomats say they want a final deal on design and funding by March, when France takes over its six-month presidency in January.


Kramp-Karrenbauer said the key question was not whether the EU would establish a new military unit, and the discussion must not stop there.

EU should enable military coalitions to tackle crises, Germany says - Metro US

<div class="at-above-post addthis_tool" data-url="https://www.metro.us/eu-should-enable-military/"></div>BRDO, Slovenia (Reuters) -Germany called on the European Union on Thursday to enable coalitions of the willing within the bloc to rapidly deploy a military force in a crisis as members...

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