© Reuters / Kacper Pempel
Stoltenberg told a press briefing in Belgium that he would welcome an increased investment by European nations in defense, but this should be channeled towards NATO, adding that "duplication would be inefficient. It's important to avoid duplication and I urge Europe to make sure that everything they do is complementary to the NATO alliance," he said, Reuters reported.
Comment: "duplication would be inefficient..." just like this article so far!!!
The idea of creating an EU army to counter the perceived threat from Russia was the brainchild of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who spoke of his ideas to a German newspaper on Sunday. "An army like this would help us to better coordinate our foreign and defense policies, and to collectively take on Europe's responsibilities in the world," the European Commission he said in an interview to Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper.
Comment: It is interesting that this idea has emerged and is gaining speed as a counterbalance to Russia and the US. The EU already has battle groups that are manned on a rotational basis as a rapid reaction force. This, however, is a far cry from a funded centralized EU army armed with the same capability of national institutionalized armed forces. What the take-away message may be is that the EU is reacting adversely to the US Lord of the World monopoly on calling the shots, are sick of stooges like Breedlove muddying the waters and complicating negotiations, and is feeling non-autonomous and ineffective. Obviously the US wants to push the war agenda as far as it possibly can, as it is the only deflection from more pressing problems at home, the financial solution it needs to remain viable, and its false belief in its self-aggrandizing "exceptionalism." The EU is caught in the middle and is looking for any way out while not cutting off its NATO nose in the process, as in "being inefficient by duplication."
See also:
NATO lies and provocations: Splitting up the Atlantic Alliance