European Union wants billions for wars

The European Union already has, not an official European Union army, but something close to it: the European Union Military Staff. The commander of its ‘department of crisis response and current operations’ used to be Greek general Georgios Epitideios. Also in Brussels, Epiteidios was senior staff member of NATO’s Central Command.

Recently, General Epitideios came back to Brussels. This time as Member of the European Parliament for the Greek nazi party Golden Dawn. Does European Commission boss Mr Juncker want someone like neo-nazi General Epitideios as commander of the European Union’s ‘stronger military fist’ plans?

Translated from Dutch NOS TV:

“Brussels wants billions for European weapons”

Today, 08:15

The European Commission will annually spend billions of euros on the development of weapons …. This, according to Dutch daily the Volkskrant, the Commission will announce at the presentation of the European Defence Fund later today.

The newspaper bases itself on still secret Commission documents. People involved are said to have confirmed the amount. The news website Politico reports that a “boost” of European defense [war] is a top priority for next year.

According to the Volkskrant the Commission wants to spend annually 5 billion euros on the European production of drones and other weapons. From 2021 on they require another 500 million per year for research into new military technologies.

Trump

European Commission president Juncker had already said in September that Europe must cooperate more closely on defense matters. The Donald Trump election victory strengthens him in the idea that the EU now needs a stronger defense …

Europe’s executive board stressed to the Volkskrant that the amounts are relatively small compared to the defense spending of the member states. Which spent 200 billion on military expenses last year.

In the wake of Donald Trump’s election as US president, the European powers are pushing ahead rapidly with plans for military rearmament. On Wednesday, the European Union (EU) Commission presented proposals for increased military spending and closer Europe-wide coordination on the research and development of weaponry: here.

Britain will not seek to obstruct European efforts to develop closer defence co-operation after Brexit, [pro-Brexit foreign secretary] Boris Johnson has said.

Related articles

• Trump elected US president, a British view
• Britain leaving European Union, after the referendum