ZURICH: Spain is urging the EU to move toward creating a joint army for the bloc as a deterrence measure, Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said in comments to Reuters on Wednesday ahead of a day of meetings in Davos.
The region should focus first on bringing together its tangible assets to properly integrate its defense industry, and then mobilizing a coalition of the willing, the foreign minister said.
The concern over whether European citizens would be willing to assemble militarily is a “legitimate debate”, but the chance of assembling a critical mass was higher as a bloc than on a national level, Albares said, adding: “A joint effort would be more efficient than 27 separate national armies.”
The comments come ahead of an emergency meeting between EU leaders later on Thursday in Brussels to coordinate a joint response to US President Trump’s threats to buy or annex Greenland. A Council spokesperson confirmed late on Wednesday the meeting will still take place despite Trump’s announcement on social media that he and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte had “formed the framework of a deal”.
Albares, speaking after a meeting in Delhi on Wednesday with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar which included talks on deeper defense ties, stressed that the intention of such an army was not to replace NATO, underscoring the importance of the transatlantic alliance.
“But we need to demonstrate that Europe is not a place that will let itself be coerced militarily or economically,” Albares said.
His position remained unchanged despite Trump rowing back on his Greenland threats after speaking to Rutte, a senior foreign official said, adding that Spain was “glad a pathway for dialogue had been opened within the NATO framework, if that pathway is confirmed.”
The concept of integrating national military forces into a supranational European army was first proposed in 1951 to counter the Soviet Union and ensure German rearmament did not threaten its neighbors, but was voted down by France’s parliament in 1954.
“The idea of European defense was part of the origin of the EU. It is up to my generation to finish this task,” Albares said.
Spain urges EU to create joint army amid Greenland dispute
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Spain urges EU to create joint army amid Greenland dispute
- EU should integrate defense industry and assemble coalition of the willing, Spain foreign minister says
- Joint EU military more efficient than separate national forces, Albares says
Carney says Canada has no plans to pursue free trade agreement with China as Trump threatens tariffs
Carney says Canada has no plans to pursue free trade agreement with China as Trump threatens tariffs
TORONTO: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday his country has no intention of pursuing a free trade deal with China. He was responding to US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose a 100 percent tariff on goods imported from Canada if America’s northern neighbor went ahead with a trade deal with Beijing.
Carney said his recent agreement with China merely cuts tariffs on a few sectors that were recently hit with tariffs.
Trump claims otherwise, posting that “China is successfully and completely taking over the once Great Country of Canada. So sad to see it happen. I only hope they leave Ice Hockey alone! President DJT”
The prime minister said under the free trade agreement with the US and Mexico there are commitments not to pursue free trade agreements with nonmarket economies without prior notification.
“We have no intention of doing that with China or any other nonmarket economy,” Carney said. “What we have done with China is to rectify some issues that developed in the last couple of years.”
In 2024, Canada mirrored the United States by putting a 100 percent tariff on electric vehicles from Beijing and a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum. China had responded by imposing 100 percent import taxes on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25 percent on pork and seafood.
Breaking with the United States this month during a visit to China, Carney cut its 100 percent tariff on Chinese electric cars in return for lower tariffs on those Canadian products.
Carney has said there would be an initial annual cap of 49,000 vehicles on Chinese EV exports coming into Canada at a tariff rate of 6.1 percent, growing to about 70,000 over five years. He noted there was no cap before 2024. He also has said the initial cap on Chinese EV imports was about 3 percent of the 1.8 million vehicles sold in Canada annually and that, in exchange, China is expected to begin investing in the Canadian auto industry within three years.
Trump posted a video Sunday in which the chief executive of the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association warns there will be no Canadian auto industry without US access, while noting the Canadian market alone is too small to justify large scale manufacturing from China.
“A MUST WATCH. Canada is systematically destroying itself. The China deal is a disaster for them. Will go down as one of the worst deals, of any kind, in history. All their businesses are moving to the USA. I want to see Canada SURVIVE AND THRIVE! President DJT,” Trump posted on social media.
Trump’s post on Saturday said that if Carney “thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken.”
“We can’t let Canada become an opening that the Chinese pour their cheap goods into the U.S,” US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“We have a , but based off — based on that, which is going to be renegotiated this summer, and I’m not sure what Prime Minister Carney is doing here, other than trying to virtue-signal to his globalist friends at Davos.”
Trump’s threat came amid an escalating war of words with Carney as the Republican president’s push to acquire Greenland strained the NATO alliance.
Carney has emerged as a leader of a movement for countries to find ways to link up and counter the US under Trump. Speaking in Davos before Trump, Carney said, “Middle powers must act together because if you are not at the table, you are on the menu” and he warned about coercion by great powers — without mentioning Trump’s name. The prime minister received widespread praise and attention for his remarks, upstaging Trump at the World Economic Forum.
Trump’s push to acquire Greenland has come after he has repeatedly needled Canada over its sovereignty and suggested it also be absorbed into the United States as a 51st state. He posted an altered image on social media this week showing a map of the United States that included Canada, Venezuela, Greenland and Cuba as part of its territory.
