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UK defense minister backs Euro army
John Hutton has become the first defence secretary to back a French plan for a European army, branding those who dismiss it as "pathetic". In a wide-ranging interview with The Sunday Times, he said: "I think we've got to be pragmatic about those things. Where it can help, we should be part of it." His support goes beyond the public position of Gordon Brown, the prime minister, and will antagonise those who believe that further European cooperation will undermine Nato by excluding the United States. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, has sought to develop Europe's military structures with new headquarters and rapid reaction forces, each consisting of 1,500 troops from member countries. Hutton said: "France is one of our closest allies, militarily. The French believe very strongly in this type of role. If we can support it, we should." He added that working with EU allies on military missions was "perfectly sensible." He emphasised that Britain should not contribute troops to joint EU operations if it risked compromising other missions, and cited plans for a European Union-led mission to tackle piracy off Somalia as a "good example" of how such forces could be used
Posted by: lotp 2008-10-26 |
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