‘European army is inevitable’ – German defense commissioner

Speaking to the German Press Agency on Monday, Hans-Peter Bartels, the Germany Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, called on the 28-nation bloc’s militaries to unite into a single armed force.

“We are currently disorganized, technically fragmented and duplicate structures unnecessarily,” Bartels said, as quoted by the Telegraph. “We do not want to go down the solitary national path anymore. Not in Germany, not in the Netherlands, not in the Czech Republic and not in Italy.”

“In the end, there will be a European army,” he stated.

Since around 2013, Germany has been overseeing efforts towards closer EU defense integration through the Framework Nations Concept, through which it plans to share troops and capabilities with other European countries. Two Dutch brigades have already been integrated into the Bundeswehr’s Rapid Response Forces Division and 1st Armored Division, and there are also plans for Czech and Romanian forces to do the same.

Aside from Bartels, the concept of a European army has also been put forward by other figures in the EU establishment including the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, who told the newspaper Die Welt in 2015 that “a common European army would convey a clear message to Russia that we are serious about defending our European values.”