BERLIN \u2014 European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Sunday called for the creation of an EU army in the wake of rising tensions with Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Juncker said the force could help counter new threats beyond the bloc’s borders and defend European “values,” in an interview with Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“You would not create a European army to use it immediately,” he was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“But a common army among the Europeans would convey to Russia that we are serious about defending the values of the European Union.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said a joint EU force would also lead to more efficient spending on military equipment and drive further integration of the bloc’s 28 member states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Such an army would help us design a common foreign and security policy,” the former Luxembourg prime minister said, but added that the force should not challenge NATO’s defense role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Europe’s image has suffered dramatically and also in terms of foreign policy, we don’t seem to be taken entirely seriously.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposal was likely to rile opponents of deeper EU integration such as Britain but has won some support from Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said last month that she was confident that “perhaps not my children but my grandchildren will have a United States of Europe” with its own military, news agency DPA reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Welt am Sonntag quoted the head of the German parliament’s foreign policy committee, Norbert Roettgen, as saying that an EU army “is a European vision whose time has come”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The newspaper said that former NATO Secretary General Javier Solana would present a report on Monday in Brussels entitled “More Union in European Defence” calling for a new European security strategy including military capability to intervene beyond EU borders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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