NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg, who was in Rome on Friday, has expressed his support for a European Defence policy. There has been more of a focus on the issue because of Brexit. He said it was not necessary to come up with an “alternative” to the Atlantic alliance.
“A stronger European Defence would be good for the European Union, for Europe, and for NATO”, Mr Stoltenberg said during a press conference.
More cooperation between Europeans could only be a good thing, he said. He encouraged countries to increase spending on Defence, as “we live in a more dangerous world, with new struggles and threats we have to deal with and adapt to”.
On the other hand, “they can’t copy structures like NATO”. He insisted that the European project would “compliment” NATO and not be an “alternative”.
European Defence Ministers have held discussions over the last few months, to talk over how to ensure more cooperation. This project is not popular in the United Kingdom, which is against there being any kind of “European army” after its exit from the EU.
(Source: Belga)
