Another important line from the joint statement.
This is a tacit go-ahead from the US for EU defence cooperation *but* one that is "complimentary to #NATO".
NATO Sec Gen Jens Stoltenberg, who sees EU defence as a threat to NATO, won't be happy I think.
This is a tacit go-ahead from the US for EU defence cooperation *but* one that is "complimentary to #NATO".
NATO Sec Gen Jens Stoltenberg, who sees EU defence as a threat to NATO, won't be happy I think.
https://twitter.com/ishaantharoor/status/1440719534739001346
In the end, we won't know whether EU defence serves as something complimentary to #NATO or something that makes #NATO irrelevant until it exists.
So statements of intent now not to make NATO irrelevant can't be anything other than aspirational. Hence Stoltenberg's opposition.
So statements of intent now not to make NATO irrelevant can't be anything other than aspirational. Hence Stoltenberg's opposition.
This was a fairly significant concession by Biden on the language used about EU defence outside the context of #NATO.
I suspect US military circles won't be happy about it. Certainly the NATO bubble won't.
Big question is: will Europeans actually do it?
I suspect US military circles won't be happy about it. Certainly the NATO bubble won't.
Big question is: will Europeans actually do it?
The EU already has some *very* limited defence cooperation, but having a real "European defence" under the EU umbrella will require a sea change, both in capabilities and in thinking.
I wrote about this earlier this month in my WPR newsletter: worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/29…
I wrote about this earlier this month in my WPR newsletter: worldpoliticsreview.com/trend-lines/29…
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