“If we want to be peacekeepers in the world, we need a European military,” the foreign policy chief stated in an interview with an Italian newspaper. “This is a fundamental precondition to be able to have an effective European foreign policy.”
“In a world with powerful players like the United States, China, India, Russia – with crises from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific – Italian, German, French or Slovenian citizens can only be protected by something that already exists, namely the European Union,” Tajani emphasized.
The comment represents an expression of independence on the part of Italy’s ruling right-wing Brothers of Italy party. Some observers believed populist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni might challenge Western military prerogatives after taking office late in 2022. But Meloni has supported US backing of Israel as well as continued lethal aid to Ukraine.
Some European leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron have suggested the idea of an EU army in the past. Macron famously called NATO “brain dead” in 2019 and said Europe should pursue “strategic autonomy” from Washington. However Macron changed his position after the launch of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, now supporting NATO expansion in Europe.
Macron was preceded in his desire for greater French sovereignty by historical leaders like Charles de Gaulle, who refused to place the country’s military under NATO control in the 1960s. He also rejected the establishment of NATO bases in France, seeing the alliance as a tool of US domination.
Although NATO is ostensibly an alliance of equals, every supreme allied commander of the bloc has been American. Some throughout Europe have begun to question the continent’s subservience to US foreign policy as Western-backed economic sanctions against Russia have backfired, causing a major energy affordability crisis. Europe was rocked by demonstrations protesting the rising cost of living last year and some German industry has been forced to shut down.
But the rearming of Europe also brings to mind some of the greatest historical tragedies of the twentieth century. After decades of disarmament, Germany has begun to expand its military capabilities in recent years. Russia views the expansion of NATO as a threat to its security and has cited the concern in relation to its special military operation in the Donbass region.
In Germany, right-wing political parties have been gaining prominence with the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party securing support of more and more voters, according to recent regional elections. Right-wing politicians are also enjoying greater support in Spain, the Netherlands, and in Italy via Meloni’s aforementioned Brothers of Italy party.