Los Heads of the Defense of the Twenty -seven They urged Thursday to European Union (EU) concretize the application in the practice of article 42.7 of the community treaties that deals with the collective defenseby detecting insufficiencies to possible threats. “We advise politicians to think of a more concrete definition of article 42.7,” said the president of the European Union Military Committee, Robert Brieger, at the end of a meeting of that agency.
Brieger said that the reason for this request is that they have “discovered that the concentration of the European Union Security and Defense position in the international crisis management is not enough for the moment, and is not suitable for the future.” “So we have to Clarify the role of European armed forces within territorial defense From the continent, there is a clear need for close cooperation with NATO, “he said.
The military made it clear that the European collective defense will continue to be fundamentally in the hands of the Atlantic Alliance, but stressed that “we know that the US is changing its interest towards the Indo-Pacific, and there is a clear need to do more on European soil and by the European Member States.” Thus, he asked what the concrete role of article 42.7 of the community treaties would be, which refers to the solidarity of the Member States in Defense when any of them suffers an armed attack, and in essence it is similar to article 5 of the Washington Treaty by which, if an NATO ally is attacked, everyone must go out to defend it.
Military mobility
As an example, Brieger cited that it is necessary to ensure military mobility in European soil for rapid transport of a large number of troops, or the protection of critical infrastructure, among other similar issues. “The advantage of European Union institutions is, without a doubt, that it is able to act in all areas of politics, economy, security and army. So we have more tools than NATO, and try to find the best way to complement ourselves,” he explained.
Specifically, the defense leaders underlined “the need for a clear and holistic approach, which includes recommendations for the commissioning of article 42.7 of the EU Treaty, and the solid structures of related control and control.” Also an approach that allows to provide military advice to all relevant and future organs within the decision -making structure in the EU defense matters, Brieger said.
Shipping to Ukraine
As regards the capacities, he stressed that the EU “has to improve in quantity and quality”, while the European Defense Agency maintains “a vital role in developing the necessary capacities suitable for military end users of the Member States.” With regard to Ukraine, the Military Heads of the Twenty -seven addressed today the delivery of the two million artillery projectiles promised to kyiv this year, as well as the operation of the European Mission of Training of Ukrainian military.
Given the threats that arrive from the northwest of the Indian Ocean, specifically the attacks of Huríes de Yemen rebels against commercial ships in the Red Sea, “threatening world trade and European economic stability,” Brieger said that “it is not about isolated incidents.” “They are part of a broader pattern of instability that demands a clear response,” he said, and defended that the European Maritime Security Operations Atalanta and Aspides “are critical steps to guarantee the security of international maritime routes.” “Europe must be able to protect their interests inside and outside its borders where they are threatened, which requires a military power of deployment and credible,” he said. In that line, he pointed out that the defense chiefs highlighted today “the clear need for a better synchronization” of these two community naval operations, “so that they have even more success.”
