[CTRL] EU Building Army

[William Shannon]

WIRE:11/18/2000 12:46:00 ET
The European Union begins building its own armed force
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�BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) _ The European Union begins building its own defense
force Monday, a 60,000-man rapid reaction corps some say strengthens European
security and others believe could be the first step in wrecking NATO. Just a
year after the 15 EU leaders decided at their summit in Helsinki, Finland, to
launch the process, EU nations will begin pledging troops and equipment for
the new force, which is essentially to be used for humanitarian, peacekeeping
and peacemaking duties. The Europeans say they need this force to act in
crises where NATO as a whole _ and the United States in particular _ does not
want to get involved. Some in the United States and Europe, however, view the
push for a European force as part of a French-led effort to dilute
Washington"s influence on the continent. Javier Solana, the EU"s chief of
foreign and security policy, says the Americans have no reason to worry. "By
pulling its full weight, the European Union will contribute to trans-Atlantic
relations by better sharing the burden of security," Solana said. "We are
doing what they have urged us to do for decades." The United States says it
supports the EU"s foray into military affairs, known as the European Security
and Defense Policy, as long as it"s done right. "Done properly, ESDP can
increase the capabilities available to NATO and the EU to deter or respond to
crises," Alexander Vershbow, the American ambassador to NATO, said in a
speech last month. "Done poorly, this process can divide the trans-Atlantic
alliance, lead to decreased U.S. engagement in European security matters and
diminish European capacity to manage crises." That is precisely what has more
than a few Americans and Europeans worried. No new military units are being
created. When the EU defense ministers gather here Monday, they will be
pledging existing troops and equipment to the EU. Many of those troops are
also pledged to NATO. No surprises are expected at Monday"s pledging
conference. A senior EU official said member countries have already indicated
they will be pledging more than 100,000 soldiers, 400 combat aircraft and
more than 400 ships. The EU needs a pool of 100,000-120,000 troops from which
to draw the 60,000 because it is not possible to know in advance what kind of
forces will be necessary for any given mission. If six-monthly rotation of
forces is considered, that figure must be doubled to more than 200,000. While
the EU is eager to have its own military force _ even one as small as 60,000
_ it still wants to be able to fall back on NATO"s assets. The EU and NATO
are deep into discussions about how the new relationship will work. NATO
Secretary-General Lord Robertson insists the talks are making "good progress"
in all areas. Other diplomats say the discussions are very difficult, not to
say deadlocked. More than anything else, the United States wants it to be
clear that NATO is the first option for dealing with security crises and is
not circumvented by the EU striking off on its own. Washington is also
concerned about unnecessary duplication, particularly in the area of
planning. The Americans prefer that the new EU military entity use existing
NATO planning structures rather than siphoning off energy and resources to
create a separate facility for the EU, as the French would prefer. In
addition, European NATO members who are not also members of the EU, Turkey
and Iceland in particular, worry about promising the EU automatic access to
alliance assets when they are not a part of the EU decision-making process.
The United States has been pushing for these countries to be allowed full
participation in EU decisions concerning the force. On the EU side, some
neutral countries, which are not members of NATO, see the move into military
matters as more than they bargained for when the joined the Union. The
reality is NATO has few assets of its own. Most of the assets in question _
such as satellite intelligence, communications and transport _ are American.
Washington also wants a permanent regular relationship with the EU rather
than the French idea for occasional meetings when crises arise. Many see
Monday"s pledging conference as key to European resolve, both to upgrade the
quality of their forces and to increase defense spending.

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