While the EU’s first-ever joint military exercise involving 2,800 personnel, 25 aircraft, and 6 naval vessels from nine nations is underway in Spain, Brussels’ chief diplomat has bemoaned the development, saying “We could have got [capacity] quicker”
The exercise scenario involves a fictitious EU partner south of the Mediterranean whose leader needs help because of a ‘violent extremist organization’ – how very timely!
The operation will help to “ultimately turn the EU into a military power in the near future” a Brussels policymaker said. It will “allow the bloc to gain operational independence from NATO” as a step towards “establishing a fully-fledged EU armed force”.
