Klitschko slams President Macron over Ukraine comments
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Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Mr Macron pushed even harder for an EU Army, saying the bloc could no longer rely on NATO or the United States for protection. The French President has also called on EU members to make themselves available to act independently of the US and NATO, stating: “Europe has to accept it must pay the price for peace.” Mr Macron said in March: “We cannot let others defend ourselves; whether on land, at sea, under the sea, in the air, in space or in cyberspace… Our European defence must take a new step”.
However, plans for the introduction of an EU-wide army have been slammed down by a senior British academic.
Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs from King’s College London, Anand Menon, said: “The creation of an EU Army is not a realistic possibility.
“There is no prospect at all of a military force under single EU command.
“When the EU does become involved in defence, it is always performed under national control.
“No country would be willing to give up its armed forces for a supranational entity such as the EU.”
When asked what the goal of an EU Army would be, the Professor suggested the idea was based on centralising resources.
He said: “The goal of such a project is to allow member states to get more value for money, allowing them to coordinate what they do.
“There is a lot of duplication in Europe, and hence it makes sense to combine these resources.
“For example, several member states have individual missile programmes, they would be combined into one entity should the plan ever go ahead.”
Prof Menon was also sceptical about Mr Macron’s, and France’s true feelings towards an EU Army.
He said: “I think the French will be the last county to give up its army to the EU.”
The Professor did however add Mr Macron was “looking for collective coordination” when it came to his openly vocal rhetoric surrounding the notion of such a collective defence force.
With global financial uncertainty real-time issue for the European Union, the cost of implementing an EU army was also discussed.
Professor Menon said: “It will be the member states that will pay for the project and not the EU.
“The EU has a limited budget for defence research.
“Whether this money can be spent in a coordinated way remains to be seen, they will save, but a vast majority of such a project would come from national spending.”
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Aside from Professor Menon’s doubts about the creation of such a force, some member states have also raised concerns.
The Baltic nations have been highly opposed to the idea, as they fear it will undermine NATO, which until now, has remained a key deterrent in Russia from spreading the conflict in Ukraine into mainland Europe.
Britain has always vetoed moves towards it when it was an EU member for the same reason.
The idea has always been seen as a distant prospect, due to a lack of political will from member states wary of sending their troops into action under an EU flag.
The EU has had battlegroups of 1,500 soldiers standing by since 2007 but they have never been used.
The invasion of Ukraine has however triggered a series of policy changes across Europe, in particular, Germany.
The country reversed years of Angela Merkel’s defence policy to announce it would hit NATO defence spending targets and revive its under-resourced military.
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