Non-NATO member Sweden rejects the EU’s rapid reaction force-EURACTIV.com
*** This article has been updated with a quote from the Minister.
The proposal from the EU defense ministers for a European rapid reaction force to respond quickly to crises in the aftermath of the Afghanistan crisis has not been welcomed by everyone, including the Swedish defense minister Peter Hultqvist.
“I do not see it as the main line to solve these problems,” said Hultqvist.
Cooperation with the United States is the backbone of European security, the Minister of Defense told Swedish Radio and poured cold water on the current EU defense debate.
In the wake of the Afghanistan crisis, EU defense ministers last week had discussed proposals for a rapid reaction force and the possibility of moving towards ad-hoc military cooperation between interested EU member states.
According to him, the link across the Atlantic is still particularly important for the balance and stability “in our part of the world”, he said, adding that what is happening in Russia poses a “threat” to Sweden, which continues to cling to its non-NATO status.
Support for Sweden’s possible future NATO membership has increased for some time, with public opinion in favor and the current majority in parliament intends to keep alive the possibility of applying for membership at some point in the future.
Hultqvist’s statement is in line with the views of the Baltics and Poland, while neighboring Finland has been a stronger advocate of a European rapid reaction force.
EU efforts to create such a force have been going on for more than two decades, when after the Kosovo crisis, EU leaders decided to set up a joint unit of around 50,000 troops by 2003, but such plans never materialized.
In a subsequent attempt, the bloc created a system of EU battalion-sized battle groups with 1,500 troops in 2007, which have never been used in operations either due to disputes over funding and reluctance to deploy.
The EU will present a proposal for a potential “first accession force” in November and wants to seal the agreement when France takes over the six-month EU Council presidency from January 2022.
During the ongoing debate and in view of the opposition within the EU, French President Emmanuel Macron had so far taken a step back and toned down his usually loud calls for a common European defense.
However, analysts suggest he will heat up the issue during the French election campaign.
EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton struck Macron’s usual tone, saying that the portfolio covers the defense industry and space, that joint defense “is no longer optional” and that the EU must be able to carry out military missions in “full autonomy” at its border and elsewhere .
German Chancellor Angela Merkel had so far preferred to see NATO remain the center of European defense. A current proposal from Germany instead supported the idea that “coalitions of the willing” among the member states come together to deal with future crises. The discussion in November may take a different turn after the German election.
(Pekka Vänttinen | EURACTIV.com, Alexandra Brzozowski, EURACTIV.com)