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Nine EU nations will on Monday (25 June) formalise a plan to create a European military intervention force, a French minister said, with Britain backing the measure as a way to maintain strong defence ties with the bloc after Brexit.
The force, known as the European Intervention Initiative and championed by French President Emmanuel Macron, is
intended to be able to deploy rapidly to deal with crises.
A letter of intent is due to be signed in Luxembourg on Monday by
France, Germany, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia, Spain and Portugal, French defence minister Florence Parly told the newspaper
Le Figaro.
The EU took a major step towards building closer defence ties on Monday (13 November), with 23 member states signing a landmark agreement, promoted by France and Germany,
to fund and boost cooperation following Britain's decision to leave the bloc.
The initiative involves "joint planning work on crisis scenarios that could potentially threaten European security", according to a source close to the minister, including natural disasters, intervention in a crisis or evacuation of nationals.
It would be separate from other EU defence cooperation, meaning there would be no obstacle to Britain taking part after it leaves the bloc.
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