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The European Commission will propose on Tuesday ways for the European Union to boost its arms industry so it can shift to “war economy mode” in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Thierry Breton, the European industry commissioner, will lay out proposals to encourage EU countries to buy more weapons together from European companies, and to help such firms increase production capacity, according to EU officials. “We need to change the paradigm and move into war economy mode. This also means that the European defense industry must take more risks, with our support,” said Breton, previewing the package. Breton, a...

The European Union should form its own combined army that could play a role in peacekeeping and preventing conflict, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said. In an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa, Tajani said that closer European cooperation on defence was a priority for the Forza Italia party that he leads. "If we want to be peacekeepers in the world, we need a European military. And this is a fundamental precondition to be able to have an effective European foreign policy," he said in an interview published on Sunday. "In a world with powerful players like the United States,...

Commenting on the course of counteroffensive operations in Ukraine, Pentagon believes that the Ukrainian forces have the necessary assets for their actions to be successful.According to the correspondent of European Pravda, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh expressed this assessment on Tuesday.According to Singh, hostilities in Ukraine are "turning into protracted battles every day, as was the case in Bakhmut.""We know that the battles will be difficult. We know that it will take time. And we are sure that the Ukrainians have what they need. They have the combat power and the ability to succeed in counteroffensive operations," she emphasised.The Pentagon representative...

This year’s EU election will be the “last chance” to kill populism, Guy Verhofstadt has warned, calling for sovereignty-destroying “reform” which would transfer national powers to Brussels. In an interview with five influential establishment newspapers from across the continent on Tuesday, the veteran MEP and Brussels’ Brexit coordinator gave his backing to the vision of a federal EU superstate unveiled by Emmanuel Macron earlier this week..... “The union envisioned by [the French president] is a Europe that can stand on its own two feet, in a world of great powers in which EU nations would not be able to protect...

YouTube video of a news story about France and Germany signing a treaty, that, ostensibly, will tie the two countries very closely together. The commentator seems hyperbolic but given Merkel's and Macron's history - is it? Do any FReepers have additional information regarding this agreement?

Germany’s defence minister has confirmed that “a united EU military is becoming a reality,” after her ally and Chancellor Angela Merkel backed Emmanuel Macron’s call for a “real European army.” “Europe’s army is already taking shape,” Ursula von der Leyen wrote in an opinion piece for Handelsblatt on Thursday. “Germany and France are the driving forces in defense,” Ms von der Leyen boasted, adding that “We’re moving even further ahead with our close partner France” after the two countries agreed to sign a “new Elysèe Treaty” which, amongst other efforts to, in effect, merge aspects of the two countries, includes...

Struggling to fill its ranks, Germany’s military is drawing up plans to recruit nationals from other European countries as part of a drive to beef up the armed forces. Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen wants to recruit Poles, Italians and Romanians, magazine Der Spiegel said, citing a ministry document. The German military, or Bundeswehr, has stepped up its recruitment efforts as part of a broader reset following Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Last year, Germany said it would increase the size of its armed forces to 198,000 active soldiers by 2024 from 179,000. Pressure on Berlin...

The European Defense Fund (EDF) moved closer to becoming reality this week in Strasbourg when MEPs gave it the green light. However, some uncertainties persist as a legal expert opinion obtained by EurActiv suggests that establishing the fund could be violating EU law. […] In the run-up to the vote in the plenary, however, the Left party in the Parliament commissioned a legal opinion to assess whether the EDF is compatible with European Union law. According to Andreas Fischer-Lescano of the University of Bremen, who drafted the legal study, the Lisbon Treaty explicitly prohibits the financing of military or defense...

ARMOURED vehicles bearing the European Union flag have stormed into Paris as protesters bring the city to a standstill.

NATO officials and diplomats are assembling for an “extraordinary meeting” on Monday with Ukrainian officials following a naval clash between Ukraine and Russia off Crimea’s coast, the military alliance announced. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg scheduled the NATO-Ukraine Commission meeting at the request of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, reports noted. Stoltenberg made contact with the commission and scheduled the meeting after Russian naval forces fired on Ukrainian vessels attempting to enter the Kerch Strait, which is a vitally important waterway that connects Ukraine’s port city of Mariupol to the Black and Mediterranean seas. Russia has steadily tightened its control of the...

Angela Merkel called for the creation of a 'real, true' European army during a speech to EU ministers on Tuesday in a rebuke to President Trump. The German Chancellor also called for a European Security Council that would be responsible for coordinating defence policy on the continent. Merkel spoke out after French President Emmanuel Macron floated the same idea last week, drawing the ire of President Donald Trump.

France’s Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has called for Europe to become an “empire” to compete with the United States after the country’s President Emmanuel Macron called for an EU army to defend against the NATO ally.

French President Emmanuel Macron has reiterated calls for a European Union army, this time saying that it is needed to protect the bloc from China, Russia, and even the United States. The progressive leader, a proponent of greater EU federalisation which will result in the reduction in sovereignty for European nations, told Europe 1 Monday night that the bloc needs a “real European army”. “We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and even the United States of America,” Macron said, according to Agence France-Presse. (snip) “We will not protect the Europeans unless we decide to have a...

Germany’s long-understaffed army has a new plan to boost recruitment: allowing foreigners from other European Union countries to serve in the unified armed forces (Bundeswehr). The defense ministry confirmed on Saturday that it was seriously considering the idea. “The Bundeswehr is growing. For this, we need qualified personnel,” a Defense Ministry spokesman told German news agency DPA. Speaking with local newspaper Augsburger Allegemeine, Social Democrat (SPD) defense expert Karl-Heinz Brunner said that he could imagine EU citizens serving in the Bundeswehr. But he warned that any soldier who fought for Germany must be promised citizenship. “If citizens of other countries...

German officials have reportedly asked their American counterparts about whether it would be possible to turn the Eurofighter Typhoon into a nuclear strike aircraft. The answer to this question could have serious ramifications on Germany’s effort to replace its aging Panavia Tornado combat jets, which are certified to carry U.S. B61 nuclear bombs during a crisis as part of an inter-NATO agreement, and reinforces previous reports that the European fighter jet is the German Air Force’s preferred option. In April 2018, the German Federal Ministry of Defense sent a formal letter to U.S. officials asking about whether it would be...

Britain is backing a French plan to create a European military intervention force as a way to maintain strong defense ties with the EU after Brexit, a minister told AFP on Saturday. The British junior defense minister, Frederick Curzon, said London was “very keen to support” French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan for a force that could be deployed rapidly to deal with crises. The force, known as the European Intervention Initiative, would be separate from other EU defense cooperation, meaning there would be no obstacle to Britain taking part after it leaves the bloc. […] Twenty-five EU countries signed a...

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen has put in a request for an increase to the military budget of €12 billion ($14.6 billion) over the current term of parliament, an amount greatly in excess of present budget plans, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The Bild am Sonntag said Finance Minister Olaf Scholz had so far foreseen an increase in defense spending of just €5.5 billion over the four years to 2021. The Defense Ministry had already criticized Scholz’s plan on Friday as “inadequate in view of the huge accumulated needs and required modernization, particularly in the medium term.” According...

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is considering joining French President Emmanuel Macron at the World Economic Forum in Davos next week in what could turn into an epic clash of competing world views with U.S. President Donald Trump. Merkel, who has been struggling to put together a government since a German election in September, had been expected to skip the annual gathering of leaders, CEOs, bankers and celebrities in the Swiss Alps for a third straight year. But after clinching a preliminary coalition agreement with the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) on Friday, German officials said Merkel could travel...

The Irish government has been accused of selling out Irish neutrality. It comes as the European Council has adopted the decision to establish a European Union defense pact, known as PESCO. Portugal and Ireland are the latest countries to join the pact. However, Sinn Féin Member of the European Parliament, Matt Carthy, said there has been “zero public debate” on the issue. “Among the most ludicrous argument proponents asserted was that we needed to sell off Irish neutrality in order to show support for the EU and its values,” Carthy said. “Since when did increasing national defense budgets, creating new...