Now France is leading a European army with Germany

The defense pact between Australia, Great Britain and the United States for the Indo-Pacific, the secrecy they kept from France, their ally, and the cancellation of the purchase of sub- French sailors, have not only caused enormous tensions. France now leads a European army with Germany.

President Emmanuel Macron will speak by telephone this Wednesday, at his request, with his North American counterpart Joe Biden to discuss the crisis and what the French government has called a “stab in the back” from the States United and Australia. The time was not specified. The digital meeting will take place six days after the secret pact was known.

“It will be an exchange of clarifications“To” clarify the conditions under which this announcement was made and also clarify the conditions for an American re-engagement in relations with the allies “, declared Gabriel Attal, spokesman for the French government, at the exit of the Council of Ministers .

The new European army was the natural response before the pact. A project led in particular by France and Germany, the two largest European military forces.

The French seat on the Security Council

France’s seat on the United Nations Security Council could be made “available to the European Union” if its governments support Emmanuel Macron’s plan for a European army, according to a close ally of the French president.

France is the only European Member State to have a permanent seat on the board, after Brexit. The EU only has the status of observer. The UK, US, China and Russia have the other four permanent seats and power of veto in the organization, in charge of maintaining international peace.

French demands that influential countries like Germany, Italy and Spain increase their defense spending prompted Berlin to demand that Paris put its headquarters at the UN work for Brussels.

Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz, the favorite to succeed him as chancellor, having submitted the request, who had always been rejected by Paris.

Paris is now leading a diplomatic campaign to closer EU military integration , after Australia withdrew from a € 56 billion contract for French diesel-powered submarines and signed the security pact Aukus with the United States and the United Kingdom, secretly, without communicating it to France in any of the stages.

A traditional European army is still a distant prospect. But Macron, set to become the EU’s most influential leader as Angela Merkel prepares to step down from politics after Sunday’s German election, is determined to lay the foundation for that army.

A rapid European force

If anything decided to push the idea forward, it was not just the secret defense pact but the chaotic Western military withdrawal from Afghanistan and the terrifying conditions that the French ambassador and French residents had to rely on for get to Kabul airport from their embassy. , in American helicopters.

Senior European officials this month proposed the creation of a a rapid reaction force of 5,000 men, after the US decision to withdraw quickly from Afghanistan ignored the bloc.

“I think if we make progress on these things, we can also put on the table the discussion on the Security Council“said Sandro Gozi, a former Italian minister for Europe, who is now a MEP for Macron’s party.

Maro Sefcovic, deputy head of the European Commission, said on Tuesday that the EU would soon discuss ways to strengthen the common defense.

His comments came after Joe Biden, President of the United States, said that the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan marked the end of the “relentless war”, involving American forces in the inauguration of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Biden also assured that the United States will cease “to be the police of the world”. European states today do not have the logistics of a coordinated rapid intervention, without American aid and without NATO.

Biden signed the deal on Tuesday ahead of a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. He said the United States “has no closer or more reliable ally than Australia”.

It must be clarified whether Macron is ready to discuss the sharing of the UN post and if he can obtain concessions that allow the EU to speak with one voice on foreign policy, as well as measures towards a common EU defense.

Asked about the possibility of ceding the seat of the Security Council to the EU, the Elysee Palace said on Tuesday evening: “No comments”.

Britain rejects a European army

Britain long opposed to the creation of a European military force. MPs have warned that putting the UK aside after Brexit would only benefit enemies of the West.

“The United Kingdom represents a quarter of a game of all the military capabilities of Europe. This would only help our adversaries to exclude us from any discussion on advancing our continental defense posture, ”said Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the defense select committee.

Bob Seely, a senior Conservative MP, warned: “If the EU military undermines NATO, or results in the separation of the United States and Europe, or produces a paper army, Europe will be committing the most debilitating and dangerous act of self-harm since the rise of fascism in the 1930s.

Seely added that while potential adversaries “are rearming themselves, an EU army will amount to disarming Europe“.

He added that France’s discourse on the use of its seat at the UN felt “more the need for France to see itself and present itself as a great power, through what it hopes to be its domination. on the EU ”.

France, President of the EU

But France will assume the six-month rotating EU presidency on January 1, granting it a fundamental paper in intergovernmental negotiations. Macron will hold a joint EU defense summit with the president of the European Commission during this period.

“It is a unique opportunity for him and for Europe, ”said Gozi, who was chosen by the French president to be one of the first transnational MEPs. Transnational MEPs represent the EU more than countries and are a favorite project of Macron, who sees it as a way to strengthen democracy in the EU.

“We must be ready to confirm our transatlantic alliance, but also to become adults in terms of security and to take our responsibilities,” Gozi said.

Boris asks France for calm

During his visit to Joe Biden at the White House, the British Prime Minister called on France to calm down.

Boris Johnson said that France should overcome his anger by the pact between the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia.

“What I mean about this is I think it’s time for some of our dearest friends around the world to let go of their anger and Give me (give me) a break, ”said the British Prime Minister, when asked about the ongoing dispute over the AUKUS initiative.

“This is fundamentally a big step forward for global security. It’s three like-minded allies standing side by side and forging a new partnership. for technological exchanges.

“The AUKUS alliance will bring us closer than ever. It is not exclusive, it does not try to support anyone. It is not an adversary vis-à-vis China, for example.

“He is there to intensify ties and friendship between three countries in a way that I think will benefit the things we believe in. ”

The AUKUS deal saw the UK, Australia and the US form a trilateral security pact to develop and deploy nuclear-powered submarines, adding to the Western military presence in the Pacific region.

France called on its ambassadors in the United States and Australia, in reaction to the new security association. Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian described it as a “stab in the back”.

Paris, correspondent

ap