EU to aim for joint military force without US assets by 2025: Draft plan

BRUSSELS • The European Union is considering a joint military force of up to 5,000 troops by 2025 to intervene in a range of crises without relying on the United States, according to a draft plan.

The "EU Rapid Deployment Capacity" should be made up of land, sea and air components that could be swapped in and out of any standing force, depending on the crisis, according to the confidential 28-page document dated Nov 9.

EU foreign and defence ministers began debating the plan on Monday in Brussels and continued yesterday, aiming to settle on a final document by March next year.

EU presidency chair Slovenia said government reactions were positive, but noted the traditional divide between EU states focused on Russia and those worried about terror attacks and instability on the bloc's southern flank.

"First impressions are quite good. Of course, we need some fine tuning," said Mr Matej Tonin, Slovenia's Defence Minister.

Two decades after EU leaders first agreed to set up a 50,000-to 60,000-strong force but failed to make it operational, the draft strategy by the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is the most concrete effort yet to create a standalone military force that does not rely on US assets.

"We need more rapidity, robustness and flexibility to undertake the full range of military crisis management tasks," read the draft plan titled Strategic Compass.

"We need to be able to respond to imminent threats or quickly react to a crisis situation, such as a rescue and evacuation mission or a stabilisation operation in a hostile environment."

Not all 27 EU states have to take part, though approval of any deployment would need consensus.

The Strategic Compass is the closest thing the EU could have to a military doctrine and is akin to the US-led Nato's Strategic Concept that sets out alliance goals.

Crucially for the EU, Mr Borrell wants member states to commit to "providing associated assets and the necessary strategic enablers".

That means developing the logistics, long-range air transport and command and control capabilities of the US that European allies in Nato have relied on.

Mr Borrell said there are almost 60 joint EU military projects for weapons and other capabilities under development.

The US has urged Europeans to invest in deployable troops and President Joe Biden has said such moves would be complementary to Nato.

The EU has maintained battle groups of 1,500 troops since 2007 but they have never been used. Breaking up the battlegroups into smaller units could make them more flexible and deployable.

Meanwhile, France told Russia on Monday that Nato would be prepared to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine, near where the military alliance says Moscow has been staging a troop build-up.

Speaking by telephone to Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of a flurry of conversations between Western leaders and Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, France's President Emmanuel Macron raised his strong concern over the situation on Ukraine's borders.

"Our willingness to defend Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity was reiterated by the president," an adviser to Mr Macron told reporters of the conversation that the French leader had initiated.

Russian-backed separatists took control of Ukraine's eastern Donbass region in 2014 in a conflict that has rumbled on. Moscow also annexed Crimea from Ukraine earlier that year after the former Soviet republic sought closer ties with the EU.

REUTERS