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
Cooper says Ethiopia visit to focus on migration
- Successive British governments have sought to address illegal immigration, an issue that has helped propel the populist campaigner Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party into a commanding lead in opinion polls
LONDON: Britain’s foreign secretary said she would use a visit to Ethiopia to focus on measures to stem the rising number of migrants from the Horn of Africa seeking to reach the UK.
Yvette Cooper said job creation partnerships would dissuade people from leaving Ethiopia, while stronger law enforcement cooperation was essential to counter smuggler gangs and speed up returns of migrants with no right to stay in Britain.
“We are working together to tackle the economic drivers of illegal migration and the criminal gangs who operate globally, profiting from trading in people,” Cooper said in a statement.
“That includes new partnerships to improve trade and create thousands of good jobs in Ethiopia so people can find a better life back home instead of making perilous journeys.”
Successive British governments have sought to address illegal immigration, an issue that has helped propel the populist campaigner Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party into a commanding lead in opinion polls.
Approximately 30 percent of people crossing the English Channel in small boats over the past two years were nationals from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan, the British Foreign Ministry said.
To boost job creation in Ethiopia, Cooper is set to sign an agreement with the country to advance two energy transmission projects led by Gridworks, a UK investment organization.
She planned to announce £17 million worth of funding for tackling violence against women and girls, assistance for 68,000 children suffering malnutrition, and for projects working with displaced people.
Meanwhile, Tigrayans in northern Ethiopia fear a return to all-out war amid reports that clashes were continuing between local and federal forces on Monday, barely three years after the last devastating conflict in the region.
The civil war of 2020-2022 between the Ethiopian government and Tigray forces killed more than 600,000 people and a peace deal known as the Pretoria Agreement has never fully resolved the tensions.
Fighting broke out again last week in a disputed area of western Tigray called Tselemt and the Afar region to the east of Tigray.
