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"Germany Is Quietly Building a European Army Under Its Command"

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  • "Germany Is Quietly Building a European Army Under Its Command"

    Article in FP that may be of interest.

    Every few years, the idea of an EU army finds its way back into the news, causing a kerfuffle. The concept is both fantasy and bogeyman: For every federalist in Brussels who thinks a common defense force is what Europe needs to boost its standing in the world, there are those in London and elsewhere who recoil at the notion of a potential NATO rival.

    But this year, far from the headlines, Germany and two of its European allies, the Czech Republic and Romania, quietly took a radical step down a path toward something that looks like an EU army while avoiding the messy politics associated with it: They announced the integration of their armed forces.

    Romania’s entire military won’t join the Bundeswehr, nor will the Czech armed forces become a mere German subdivision. But in the next several months each country will integrate one brigade into the German armed forces: Romania’s 81st Mechanized Brigade will join the Bundeswehr’s Rapid Response Forces Division, while the Czech 4th Rapid Deployment Brigade, which has served in Afghanistan and Kosovo and is considered the Czech Army’s spearhead force, will become part of the Germans’ 10th Armored Division. In doing so, they’ll follow in the footsteps of two Dutch brigades, one of which has already joined the Bundeswehr’s Rapid Response Forces Division and another that has been integrated into the Bundeswehr’s 1st Armored Division. According to Carlo Masala, a professor of international politics at the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich, “The German government is showing that it’s willing to proceed with European military integration” — even if others on the continent aren’t yet.
    Seems to be a bit overblown to me, this kind of thing has been happening for a while from what I can tell.

    Could this be something of interest to the Defence Forces? Could be a way to argue for new equipment and new roles maybe.

  • #2
    Meh. It's NATO rapid response.

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    • #3
      Romanian military are getting involved with more NATO Exercises but thats far from being integrated into the Bundswehr, or a European army under the control of Germany.
      We have now US military forces established in Romania for the last 6 or 7 years as well as an US Anti-missile battery, we have Canadian Airforce deployed near Turda about 3 hours drive from where I live as well.

      North-West Romania shares a border with the Ukaraine the North-East with Moldova areas of interest to Tzar Putin, Moldova is under a very pro-Russian leader,
      Hungary on the Western border is under another twat with pro-Russian sentiments.

      Connaught Ranger.

      This statement about a EU army under the control of Germany is crap for the want of a better word

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Connaught Stranger View Post
        This statement about a EU army under the control of Germany is crap for the want of a better word
        Are you surprised, the "German superarmy" is brought out all the time, it's still full of Crap.

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        • #5
          On the plus side they are looking at EUBG deployments being EU funded (not just by the contributing nations) - more likely to deploy

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          • #6
            I like Peter Hitchens view on it all... The EU was just an extension of Germany's reach for supremacy

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            • #7
              Peter Hitchens has a good view on this sort of thing. I've really enjoyed reading up on his views surrounding the EU since BREXIT has kicked in.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by barrybadrinah View Post
                I like Peter Hitchens view on it all... The EU was just an extension of Germany's reach for supremacy
                Rubbish, factually Germany pays the biggest tax contribution in the E.U. per citizen, out of which, a large part goes to bail out places like Greece, just because they
                pay a larger contribution is no evidence they want to control Europe.

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                • #9
                  Yeah, and? Debt is a fantastic asset and control vector if utilised correctly. Just look at China.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by barrybadrinah View Post
                    Yeah, and? Debt is a fantastic asset and control vector if utilised correctly. Just look at China.
                    Comparing Communist China to the EU is also a FAIL!

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Connaught Stranger View Post
                      Comparing Communist China to the EU is also a FAIL!
                      Cheers for the 2009 meme reference, did you accidentally the whole thing at the same time? It's not a fail, China is communist in name only, I'd have thought that was fairly obvious myself.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by barrybadrinah View Post
                        Peter Hitchens has a good view on this sort of thing. I've really enjoyed reading up on his views surrounding the EU since BREXIT has kicked in.
                        Germany has been looking at the writing on the wall for some time where the US wants NATO to be self sustaining and where the UK moves away from European commitments after BREXIT and wants a pan european force independent of the UK and the USA.

                        They have also reason to be concerned as iy would seem that Trump is far more pro Putin than he is pro German and as a result Germany , the Baltic States and those sharing borders with Russia need an alliance in what ever form it takes to provide a show of strength independent to whatever side of the fence Trump falls on.

                        And if its led by Germany, so what!
                        Covid 19 is not over ....it's still very real..Hand Hygiene, Social Distancing and Masks.. keep safe

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by hptmurphy View Post
                          Germany has been looking at the writing on the wall for some time where the US wants NATO to be self sustaining...
                          Don't get captured by the Trump prism - Trump is just an idiot who takes the view of whatever arse sat on him last, you should be far more concerned about why the US has, for 20 years and more, become less and less enamoured of NATO.

                          What's amusing is that with Russia prowling along the eastern European border while the US disengages, it's quite possible that EU defence spending will have to increase beyond the level that would have satisfied the US in the first place.

                          Of course, if you want to put your faith in Germany with its 1.2% GDP defence budget while trying desperately trying to sell half of its A400M purchase on to someone, anyone, then go ahead....

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                          • #14
                            Have you been underneath an A400M though on initial/final appraoch? Sounds like a banshee in the night. I'd be selling them too. haunting bastards.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by barrybadrinah View Post
                              Have you been underneath an A400M though on initial/final appraoch? Sounds like a banshee in the night. I'd be selling them too. haunting bastards.
                              i've flown in them, quite a few times actually...

                              the A400M is the only large transport aircraft on the market - nothing else currently, or projected to be on sale will take the bulk of modern/future military equipment. if Germany is looking to unload a large proportion of its order, then by definition its looking to reduce its ability to support opererations outside of Germany.

                              two other issues also rear their ugly heads - firstly that a launch customer/producer trying to offload a product does not inspire confidence, and so other EU nations thinking about making an A400M purchace (which would help Ireland access heavy airlift) will probably decide not to bother.

                              the second issue - possibly even more important in the long term - is that its another example of Germany stiffing its project partners, which makes future European projects much less likely, and therefore makes European countries more dependant on US purchases. Germany has a history of being a partner in bi/multi-lateral projects and intially saying they will make a large order, this secures a large workshare (which secures German jobs), and then once the project is underway and its all too late to change anything, Germany starts reducing its order. A400M, Typhoon, Alpha Jet, C-160, Tornado...

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