Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, spoke to the press in Brussels on Tuesday 27 January in favour of a “European army”, at a time when foreign powers are increasingly considering the threat of force as a form of foreign policy.
While the EU must not respond “aggressively”, nor deny its values based on respect for international rules, in particular the United Nations Charter, “it is clear that we are at a turning point in what is known as the predictable rules-based world order”. And “it is clear that the American administration has a new vision of transatlantic security”.
“We must move towards a European army”, insisted the minister, fully aware that, “you don't do that from one day to the other, but if we are doing coalition of the winners when it comes to security for external threats to Europe, we can very well do it for us for our deterrents.”.
But “ once again, the idea is to remain true to our values and our way of life”. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)