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Every country should have a good defense. But I remember very well how I was flamed for saying we should invest way more into military. “No no no, you have no clue, you’re stupid, the world is way too connected, conventional wars don’t work anymore etc.”
Well. How the turntables.
Everyone blaming Trump (fuck that guy) is missing the forest for the trees.
Europe should have ceased relying on the United States for security as soon as it substantially recovered from WWII. That it didn’t has been a bone of contention since before the collapse of the U.S.S.R.
This here. It’s not a trump issue, it’s an issue of not being able to defend your own country. Every country must be able to properly fend for itself and most European countries are not. The entire British army has less long distance missiles than a single american submarine. Germany only has enough ammunition for a single day of combat.
It’s just pathetic. We tried to safe money for decades and now it just backfires immensely.
The US benefited from the slavish dependence of european countries on it, and the good business conditions that came with it. This started to change with the EU and in particular with the introduction of the euro.
I guess that it’s time for civilized Europe to become a military powerhouse once again.
Coupled with the fact that a fully armed Europe would have been viewed as a very large threat to the USSR and they might have started some shenanigans before they collapsed.
You’re right. Also I can’t believe we wasted the 4 years under Biden and now are again caught with our pants down.
@LaFinlandia well, that’s been true since 1949…
it’s only the Europeans who are suddenly waking up this. DE have been underperforming NATO slackers since day 1.
Now the chickens come home to roost.
I guess this will be the end of NATO. Such a dark future.
Leaving NATO requires a 2/3th majority in the american congress, which the republicans didn’t quite have. However, trump can obviously keep back troops, gear and money. But he can’t just leave like the Paris climate deal thingy.
Yes Macron said this back in 2017
literally point number one:
- A Europe that guarantees security in all its aspects
In terms of defence, Europe must have a joint intervention force, a joint defence budget and a joint doctrine for action. We need to encourage the swift creation of a European Defence Fund, permanent structured cooperation, and supplement them with a European intervention initiative that better integrates our armed forces at all stages.
and what has changed since then and what is being implemented?
Any decent EU military needs a common EU foreign policy. Both of those need treaty changes. Also Macron says a lot about Europe, but when he got the opportunity for action tends to fall short. France was in a great position to lead on Ukraine aid, but did not perform that amazingly.
EDIT: EU ammo purchases for Ukraine have been launched and some EU military organizational work as well, such as EU missions in Mali, the Red Sea and some other places. Also some good cooperation such as Germany and Netherlands integrating their armies.
Organisation is actually pretty good at the battalion level, there’s plenty of EU Battlegroups integrating neighbouring armies on a deep level – or at least making them acquainted with each other. Gotta know the MRE exchange rates. And that’s not counting stuff that you mentioned, like the Dutch land army being rolled into German C&C or the German/French brigade.
What’s lacking are strategic C&C capabilities on the EU level: There’s just too few of them, there should be more cooperation on that level (member states have those kinds of capabilities) which is exactly what the “EU army” thing is about, operationally. Although it has to be said that push come to shove, with so many EU members in NATO, everyone would just re-assign everything NATO to the EU should the NATO fall flat. Armies have scrambled into fighting stances from worse positions.
Macron could lead Europe, yes, but first he has to manage to lead France.
Back then, Germany was barely warming up to the idea of a EU military. Now it seems to be a done deal, the European motor is going to churn and Poland seems to want to be part of it.
The EU has to start to replace NATO. That at least means some shared assets like maybe ballistic missile defense, AWACS and similar assets. Combined procurement would also be a great idea. Something like ESA, but with some common EU funding as well.
well, sure, but with Trump going back to the big chair, and working against European interests in favor of Russian and Saudi ones, Europe is in a very bad spot, and is going to have to start making deal with Putin. no one wants to hear this, and I’m sorry for what is about to happen to Ukraine.
And i guess Taiwan will join the mainland soon without the US help china wont wait long