The European Union never tires of identifying a crisis that only a stronger European Union bureaucracy can solve.
The European Union (EU) wants an army:
In February, the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel estimated that 300,000 more troops and an annual defence spending hike of at least €250 billion would be needed to deter Russian aggression.
The lack of a unified command and control is a significant handicap. For the same reason, the combat power of 300,000 US troops is substantially greater than that of the equivalent number of European troops distributed across 29 national armies.
The Europeans already have a unified command-and-control network to organize the defense of the continent. It's called NATO. The follow-up statement that Europe has 29 national armies is not a command-and-control issue. It's an attack on 29 national armies that would be "solved" with an EU army that destroys nation-state identity. The existence of national European militaries is another faux crisis to exploit.
The EU is trying to take the credit for NATO-set European defense spending levels. Sadly for the EU, there is no pan-European identity to unify its people and troops. Which will make such an army no more effective than the World War I Austro-Hungarian multi-ethnic army.
Don't forget that the "strategic autonomy" the EU wants--but that is only briefly mentioned in the article--is a means to eject America from Europe. For American interests, NATO must be vigorously led by America to make European troops effective--and for other reasons.
NOTE: TDR Winter War of 2022 coverage continues here.
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NOTE: I made the image with Bing.
