, 9 tweets, 4 min read Read on Twitter
German defence minister von der Leyen published this piece on the European Army/ #EuropeanDefence a few days ago. I didn’t tweet it out then because I found it so strange… [thread]

English article here:
handelsblatt.com/today/opinion/…
Her piece focuses on the advances Europe has made to create a common European defence (of course, the idea is to show that von der Leyen has been doing great work). She claims “Europe’s army is already taking shape.” [2]

German version: handelsblatt.com/meinung/gastbe…
The German government had decided not to use the term ‘European Army’ anymore, but rather ‘Army of the Europeans’, as it says in the coalition agreement, but this has clearly changed since Macron’s support of a “real European Army”... [3]
But what vdL then talks about isn't about building a European Army (if you understand it as united European armed forces as I believe most people do), but about European defence – here, she mentions #PESCO, hardly a first step towards common European armed forces. [4]
She thus continues to add to the confusion around the #EuropeanArmy, which I find increasingly annoying and unhelpful (see my comments on this here:
ecfr.eu/article/commen…) [5]
VdL then talks about the new Elysee treaty (#AachenerVertrag). This I found particularly confusing, as here she specifically underlines the fact that the treaty speaks of mutual assistance in case of an armed attack. Yes, that’s reiterated in the treat, but not new: [6]
Namely, the mutual assistance is enshrined both in NATO article 5 and in EU treaty article 42.7. Hence the fact that she calls this “a novelty” (weaker in the English version) is… weird? [7]
Then there is this strange side blow against the UK on Brexit. Which is also badly translated; in the German original it’s not about “more democratic involvement” but about more involvement of the *representatives* of the people, i.e. the parliament. Weirdly misplaced either way.
So overall, this article leaves me confused. It’s an odd mix of points and I still don’t get where she/Germany stands on the European Army idea. Maybe someone here can explain? [9/9]
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Ulrike E Franke
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member and get exclusive features!

Premium member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year)

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!