From Geoffrey Van Orden, the Telegraph: Since the St Malo agreement of 1998 I have led the opposition to EU meddling in defence. This is a duplicative, divisive and dangerous distraction at a time when military resources are overstretched and we need to focus on meeting real security threats. EU defence policy is primarily an instrument of European political integration and brings no additional military capabilities to the table.
The current Libya crisis has exposed the hollowness of the EU’s defence ambitions. At the beginning of the crisis, the EU desperately sought a military role merely in order to add another chapter to its bogus military narrative.
Neither the UN nor Nato were interested.
The idea of a new and expensive EU military HQ has been resisted by successive British governments. It would merely duplicate capabilities that already exist at Nato and in the UK and elsewhere. It can only have the effect of undermining Nato and it is ridiculous that co-ordination mechanisms between the EU and Nato are now required to enable more or less the same nations to talk to themselves in different locations.
Geoffrey Van Orden is a Conservative MEP for the East of England. (graphic: tangledblog)
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