European countries have been cutting military budgets for years, while the United States, China and Russia are increasing.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, criticized the current state of the armed forces of the EU member states and invited the European countries to think together about the defense of Europe and its future. This was announced on Saturday, August 27, by the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, in a blog post on the website of the European External Action Service, UNIAN writes.
Borrell noted that the main objective of European armies in the last 20 years has been “expeditionary operations”, such as in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Sahel.
At the same time, he drew attention to the fact that during this period, there was a series of sharp and uncoordinated cuts in defense budgets across Europe when the United States, China, Russia and others increased theirs several times .
“Thus, the relative gap between European countries and others has increased dramatically. As I have repeatedly argued, this is something we must urgently address,” he said.
Borrell turned his attention to China.
“Today, its navy has more ships than the US fleet. In addition, we saw throughout Taiwan this summer how China is willing to use its military to send a clear message,” he said.
At the same time, according to Borrell, the European armed forces have become a kind of “bonsai armies”.
“The European armies were killed and described as ‘bonsai armies’: they looked real, but were reduced to miniature versions,” said the diplomat.
As an example, he cited a statement by the Chief of the General Staff of France, who openly questioned the ability of the French army to conduct a conflict of “high intensity” on European soil.
Borrell urged European countries to think about how to conduct territorial defense and asymmetric warfare at a distance.
According to Borrell, this should be done within the framework of NATO, since almost all EU member states are now members of the Alliance.
Recall that the European Union is considering the possibility of organizing a training and assistance mission for the Ukrainian military in neighboring countries.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.