{"id":26884,"date":"2023-11-30T14:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-30T14:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/belalcazar.org\/?p=26884"},"modified":"2023-11-30T14:10:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-30T14:10:00","slug":"outrage-as-eu-chief-touts-idea-of-europe-wide-security-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belalcazar.org\/politics\/outrage-as-eu-chief-touts-idea-of-europe-wide-security-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Outrage as EU chief touts idea of Europe-wide \u2018security project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ursula von der Leyen addresses the European Defence Agency<\/h3>\n

Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, has outlined her vision for a united European defence strategy during a keynote speech in Brussels, in a move which immediately set alarm bells ringing in the UK. The President of the Euroepean Commission did not use the words \u201cEuropean army\u201d during her address – but she made it clear she saw the bloc as \u201cintrinsically a security project\u201d.<\/p>\n

She told attendees of the European Defence Agency Annual Conference: \u201cOur partners are asking for greater European engagement in other parts of the world such as the Indo-Pacific, and we must recognise that our security is more closely interlinked than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Referring to Russia\u2019s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, she continued: \u201cWe have learned that when a big country’s threatens a small neighbour, the whole rules-based order is at stake. And of course, our trade routes and supply chains are also exposed.\u201d<\/p>\n

As such Europe might be called to play a role in any of these theatres near of far, Ms von der Leyen continued. She said: \u201cSo we need Member State\u2019s armed forces that are prepared for all sorts of scenarios from traditional to hybrid.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: <\/strong> EU wants to put UK troops under its ‘unified command\u2019, warns ex-army officer<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOn land, at sea, in the air, and outer space, or cyberspace. \u201cWe always say that our union was born as a peace project and yes this is right. But peace requires security. And that’s why our union was also born as a security project.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EU\u2019s \u201cgenesis\u201d may have been coal and steel but it also had a central security dimension, Ms von der Leyen claimed. She said: \u201cIn those sectors, the common industrial policy was basically security policy. And then through the decades, this security dimension has grown.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI\u2019m not only referring to the birth of this agency, to our missions and operations. Most of our Union’s policies have direct security implications. From our transport policy for military mobility, our agricultural policy, for food security, from trade to research, from energy to communications, at times of unprecedented threats, we must refocus our attention on the security dimension of all our policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must once again think about our union as intrinsically a security project.\u201d Ms von der Leyen acknowledged that collective defence remains \u201cprimarily the responsibility of the member states and of NATO\u201d.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

However, she added: \u201cStrategic responsibility also calls for stronger European contribution within NATO and to NATO. So I want to focus today on how the work we have done so far can shape our future progress on European defence.”<\/p>\n

Frederick Chedham, Reform UK\u2019s defence and security spokesman, was deeply unimpressed.<\/p>\n

The former British army officer told Express.co.uk: \u201cUnification for UvL means entrapping UK defence technology and industry under Brussels control and she also wants the political decision making regarding military operations under EU direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cMargaret Thatcher warned against this alignment because the endgame was not clear. But UvL has made the endgame clear and it is worse than the Iron Lady feared.\u201d<\/p>\n