EU signals at forming independent defence policy given the differences with US

Brussels/Washington: – US President Joe Biden had announced ‘America is Back’ during his Europe visit, after taking over the reins of the United States. But the doubts have increased regarding the US stand in the European Union have risen against the background of military withdrawal from Afghanistan, the AUKUS deal, and the immigrant problem on the Belarus border. This has, once again, triggered the talks of independent European defence policies. A senior US official also said that the United States would be prepared if Europe wanted to be autonomous in its defence policies.

During the tenure of former US President Donald Trump, the United States had warned of withdrawing from NATO, alleging that most of the contribution for NATO is coming from the United States and the European countries are not contributing enough. Upset with the allegations levelled by Trump, the European countries once again brought up the issue of an independent European army in 2018. After the exit of the United Kingdom, which opposed the proposal, the movements once again gained momentum.

But since Biden took over as the President of the United States, the activities slowed down to an extent. But given the developments over the last few months, the demand for an independent army has started gaining momentum in the European Union. The Union has published a document in this respect and is it said to have been sent to all the member countries. The document is named ‘Strategic Compass for Security and Defence’ and the mention of Rapid Deployment Force in the document draws attention.

The Union said that the document is a step towards attaining autonomy in the defence sector. The objective is to focus on ‘Resilience to Crisis’, ‘Crisis Management’, ‘Partnerships’ and ‘Defence’. Under the Defence chapter of the document, a Rapid Deployment Force comprising of 5,000 soldiers is proposed. As per the plan, the Force will be operational by the year 2025 and this is not a permanent force and will operate in the form of units.

As per analysts, this Force is a part of European efforts for an independent army. At the same time, a senior US official has indicated that the United States will be willing to respect the European decision for autonomy in defence matters if Europe desired so. Derek Chollet, the advisor in the US State Department, has made this statement during an interview with a website. Chollet clarified that if Europe is seeking autonomy, Europe must have certain capabilities and if need be, the United States is willing to provide them.

The European Union first presented the concept of an independent European army in the year 1999. An ambitious proposal of building an army of 60,000 soldiers had been presented at that time. But the proposal was put in abeyance given the opposition from the United States and the United Kingdom and the warnings issued by NATO. But as the leading European countries, Germany and France are adamant about the independent army; the proposal is activated again.