BRUSSELS \u2014 European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker called again Thursday for the bloc to build an army, saying a flock of hens posed more of a threat than its current military capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A bunch of chickens looks like a combat formation compared to the foreign and security policy of the European Union,” Juncker told a Brussels forum in typically lively language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I always call for a European army as a long-term project. It is not something you can build from scratch tomorrow morning,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Juncker has consistently backed the idea that the EU’s 28 member nations \u2014 all no strangers to a bloody, war-torn past \u2014 should accept a military arm, a need highlighted by the Ukraine crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A common army among the Europeans would convey to Russia that we are serious about defending the values of the European Union,” he told Germany’s Welt am Sonntag in March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A joint EU force would also rationalize defense spending and drive further EU integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For many European Union states, however, defense is a no-go area, with Britain especially hostile to sacrificing what it sees as a core sovereign prerogative to Brussels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Britain also insists that NATO, the US-led military alliance set up to hold the Cold War line against the Soviet Union, should remain the focus of European defense efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Juncker told the forum that considering the current fragmented state of EU military readiness, it was perfectly “right that central and eastern European countries put their trust primarily in NATO.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The 28 armies are just not up to it,” he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EU leaders are due to review the bloc’s security policy at a June summit to take on board the threat posed by a more assertive Russia and turmoil across North Africa and the Middle East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Analysts say it is unlikely to lead to radical changes in the current very limited joint military operations undertaken by the EU, such as the Atalanta anti-piracy mission off the Horn of Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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