STAFF NEWS & ANALYSIS
Juncker: Ukraine Confrontation Justifies EU Army
By Staff News & Analysis - March 09, 2015

Jean-Claude Juncker calls for EU army … European commission president says this military development would persuade Russia the bloc is serious about defending its values – UK Guardian

Dominant Social Theme: War, the health of the state.

Free-Market Analysis: The current Ukraine is the gift that keeps on giving from the standpoint of the expansion of state power.

As Russia is considerably demonized, the vast military-industrial complex of the West – including NATO and various standing armies – is invigorated. NATO is expanding in the area and the US just sent troops to the region.

It is predictable, therefore, that calls should come for an EU army, or should we say an "expanded" EU army, as the EU does have military units in place already.

Juncker is specific and clear. The EU would be much improved with a dedicated military force. More:

Juncker, the former prime minister of Luxembourg, told a German newspaper that having an army would solve the problem of the EU's foreign policy not being taken seriously.

… Juncker said such a move would help the EU to persuade Russia that it was serious about defending its values in the face of the threat posed by Moscow.

However, his proposal was immediately rejected by the British government, which said that there was "no prospect" of the UK agreeing to the creation of an EU army.

Juncker did seem to back off his statement a bit by saying that such a force would not be used "immediately." He gave the interview to Welt am Sonntag newspaper, and it was published on Sunday.

The article provides some background on Juncker, himself, "a longstanding advocate of an EU army. He justifies his stance based on additional efficiency and because an army would encourage further European integration."

He also pointed out that, "Such an army would help us design a common foreign and security policy."

British officials returned fire, stating that the government's position was clear: "Defence is a national – not an EU – responsibility and that there is no prospect of that position changing and no prospect of a European army."

According to the article, Geoffrey Van Orden, a Conservative MEP and a party spokesman on defence was even more emphatic. "This relentless drive towards a European army must stop. For Eurocrats every crisis is seen as an opportunity to further the EU's centralising objectives."

Orden apparently made other strong statements. The Guardian quotes him as saying, "EU's defence ambitions are detrimental to our national interest, to Nato, and to the close alliances that Britain has with many countries outside the EU – not least the United States, Gulf allies, and many Commonwealth countries."

Labour apparently reaffirmed that a standing European army was not in Britain's best interest. A Lib Dem spokesman said: "Having an EU army is not our position. We have never called for one."

These statements were not echoed in Germany, however. Ursula von der Leyen, the defence minister, reportedly said that, "our future as Europeans will one day be a European army." The paper quoted Norbert Röttgen, "head of the German parliament's foreign policy committee," as saying Juncker's remarks represented "a European vision whose time has come."

The predictable dialectic is taking place. On the one side Germany and the other Britain. It seems a little … neat. Once more the idea of an EU army is front-and-center – where it can be debated at length. This issue is not going to be retired any time soon, not if the Ukraine confrontation keeps heating up.

After Thoughts

The goal is a complete union, politically, militarily and economically. The military option is a good one because military mobilization inevitably involves economic and political issues as well. War accomplishes a number of agendas.

Posted in STAFF NEWS & ANALYSIS
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