The U.S.-led NATO alliance warned Tuesday that the European Union should avoid competing with NATO as the key security pact on the Continent, after leaders in Germany and France raised the possibility of setting up a European army.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg is absolutely correct to worry that an EU army would weaken NATO. Because that is the intent of a European "army" (that is, a European military).
Remember, NATO--which includes America and Canada in addition to the European members--already defends the continent from the Russian threat and only now are European NATO states starting to rebuild defenses in the face of Russian hostility and open aggression.
The only purpose of a European Union military is to weaken NATO and exclude America from Europe's defense so that America cannot stop the EU from building an "ever closer union" that creates an imperial state spanning the continent that rivals America.
Which weakens European defenses. But the Brussels apparatchiki are willing to take risks in the defense area if it furthers their political goals.