"Europe needs its own army," Czech MEP Mikulas Peksa from the Greens–European Free Alliance tweeted on February 11. His comment came in response to US Republican frontrunner Donald Trump's notion that he would not defend NATO members who do not abide by their spending obligations if elected.
Any potential joint European forces could be financed from the EU’s budget and be supervised by the European Parliament, Peksa further explained to Euractiv Czechia. "So we do not have to worry about whether there is a majority for 2% of GDP in 30 different parliaments," the MEP said.
"The theme of 'the European army' is a sea serpent which regularly comes up in the debates which animate the political bodies of Western Europe; we remember the failure of the CED (European Defense Community) in 1954. Certainly, since then, water has flowed under the bridges and we can indeed ask the question of the necessary architecture of a European continental security system," Colonel Jacques Hogard, who served 26 years in the French Army as an airborne officer in the Foreign Legion and the Special Forces, told Sputnik.
The idea of a European army has repeatedly been discussed by EU politicians. In early November 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron called for the creation of what he called a "true European army" which he said would protect the interests of the bloc. The proposal was supported by then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
During her tenure as German defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen also endorsed the EuroArmy idea, adding, however, that national governments should remain responsible for their armies. She also underscored in February 2018 that an "army of Europeans" should not pose a challenge to NATO, but "remain trans-Atlantic".
However, one should bear in mind who would be in charge of joint forces and what ideology a hypothetical EuroArmy would champion, noted Hogard.
"Which Europe are we talking about?" the French military expert asked. "If it is the European Union, this institution is sick. Sick of its technocracy, sick of its authoritarianism, sick of its internal differences, sick of its ideology, fundamentally globalist, leveling, resolutely opposed to the identity of European nations, contrary to the interest of the nations and peoples who compose them."
"Despite the undemocratic temperament and the unbearable authoritarianism of the German president – unelected, because Ursula von der Leyen is a simple civil servant – of the European Commission, we can clearly see that the unity of the so-called 'European Union' on a number of subjects, starting with politics, diplomacy, economy (agriculture, a real hot topic!), but also defense (an area in which each country naturally favors its own interests!), is far, very far from being effective."
What's more, "the Brussels technocracy is perfectly capable in its logic of creating a public force, a sort of supranational police force, which can be used for internal political purposes within the EU," Hogard continued.
The French military veteran thus echoed Florian Philippot, French politician from The Patriots and ex-MEP, who tweeted on February 12: "An EU army would first and foremost be an army used against the European peoples who would like to free themselves from the EU: total danger!"
Some political commentators believe that the EuroArmy can be used to suppress internal dissent within the bloc.
Any military formation under the EU banner wouldn't meet sovereign needs of the bloc's member states, but is likely to amplify the already existing control of the US and NATO over the Old Continent, according to the former French Army officer.
"Of course, the European Union, totally subjugated until now by the United States of America and its armed wing, NATO, is today under their influence. Hence this pathetic 'Russophobia', which it believes is a means of creating unity! Strategic error!"
GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump's victory could pave the way for Europe's liberation from the diktat of the US and unelected leadership of the EU and NATO, according to the expert.
"I am one of the French who would not regret their disappearance, either, and who would on the contrary see it as a historic opportunity to re-launch the project of building a Europe of nations from the Atlantic to the Urals, integrating economic and cultural cooperation, and of course a common security system for the whole European continent," Hogard concluded.