On Thursday, US Vice President JD Vance delivered a speech that shook Europe’s leaders and reformulated the long EU and the United States sibling. Previously, US Defense Minister Pete Hegseth warned Europe’s leaders not to take US support for granted.
The increasingly cooler tone from the United States has raised the issue of an independent Europe.
– The time is in to create a European army, Zelenskyj repeated during his speech at the Munich Security Conference.
Like Hegseth, he warned his European counterparties for US failing support.
– Right now, Ukraine is holding back Russia’s army. We cannot ignore the possibility that the United States will say no to Europe, he says in the live broadcast.
Returning question
But the question of a common European strength was raised as early as the 1950s and has since been presented by a number of European leaders.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s former Chancellor are both advocates for the idea.
“The days when we could unconditionally rely on others are over,” Angela Merkel said in a speech to the nation already in 2018 according to New York Times.
Both the current chairman of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the former, Jean-Claude Juncker, have on several occasions advocated a future common army.
The question also emerged in SVT’s election compass for the EU elections in 2024. None of the Swedish parties expressed support for the idea of a common military force, but several were positive about increased security policy cooperation among the EU countries.
Increased support after Russia’s invasion
According to a survey from the Global Opinion Investigation Company YouGov Increased support for the idea around Europe after Russia’s full -scale invasion in 2022.
In Sweden, the proportion of positives increased from 39 percent in 2021 and the year after the support was 48 percent.
The support also increased in Finland, Denmark, Lithuania, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany and France. At the same time, support in Romania, Hungary and Greece decreased.
Less defense cooperation exists
Although there is currently no common army in Europe, there are several defense cooperation between the countries, including the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) and the euro corps.