EU MILITARY HQ VETOED BY UK
20/07/2011 France, Germany and Poland want the idea of a permanent EU military headquarters in Brussels to be pursued despite a British veto, foreign ministers Alain Juppé, Guido Westerwelle and Radoslaw Sikorski said Monday in a joint statement.
US TO WITHDRAW NUCLEAR WEAPONS FROM EUROPE
15/07/2011EU REPORT SAYS POOLING & SHARING IS A 'NECESSITY'
20/07/2011
Thursday, 1 September 2011
British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday voiced opposition to the mooted EU military headquarters. "It is very clear that the United Kingdom will not agree now or in the future to an EU permanent HQ," Hague said after talks with EU counterparts in Brussels. Britain's chief diplomat said an EU military headquarters would be costly and create duplications with existing structures within the NATO transatlantic alliance.
According to AFP, the US is in talks with NATO to pull out US nuclear weapons that have been deployed since the Cold War from Europe. In depth discussion will take place in coming months and should be concluded by the next NATO summit in May. This move comes as US President Obama pursues negotiations with Russia to reduce tactical nuclear weapons and stockpiles, following the ratification of the US-Russia START disarmament treaty, the objective of which is to achieve a nuclear weapon-free world and cut defence costs.
A report on the EU's Common and Security Defence Policy (CSDP) produced by the European Union's External Action Service (EEAS) this week says pooling and sharing military capabilities in Europe "has become a necessity rather than a mere option" in a world facing "an increasingly complex and unpredictable security environment."
"There is political momentum [for pooling and sharing] and expectations remain high," said the report presented by Catherine Ashton, EU high representative for security and defence policy, to EU foreign ministers July 18. The report adds that "if the EU is to remain an active player in the world, it must maintain highly capable military forces - these are crucial to a credible CSDP" and that "multinational cooperation must become a reflex - the rule rather than the exception - if we want to preserve and develop Europe's defence capabilities."
Acknowledging that European defence expenditure is significantly decreasing and is likely to continue to do so, the report says "only a fraction" of about 200 billion euros per year spent on defence in Europe "is resulting in deployable capabilities."
The report says a decision by EU member states on how to improve the planning and conduct of CSDP missions and operations is due by the end of 2011. As for EU-NATO cooperation, the report said "promising work is underway" on countering roadside bombs and medical support and names both CBRN and cyberdefence as potential areas for future work together.
Posts
