It is reported that the EU's new rapid reaction force will hold its first joint exercise in the second half of 2023 when Spain serves as the union's rotating chair.
Why would the EU form a rapid reaction force? Why is a union that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012 continuously beefing up its military capacity in recent years?
According to military observer Shao Yongling, the EU has long wanted to go down the path of military development as its members hope to reverse their long-term dependence on the US and NATO in defense and build their own defense agencies and military forces. This was put forward as early as 1999, and there was an idea to form 13 rapid reaction units in 2007, but none of them have been implemented due to the lack of a sense of crisis and urgency and also of money.
America's abrupt withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan last year and the Russia-Ukraine conflict this year have made the EU realize that America is not a reliable protector and Europe has many problems to deal with, making the establishment of its own defense forces and realization of defense independence an urgent matter. In March 2022, the union decided to begin forming a rapid reaction force that will be fully in place by 2025.
According to Shao, the EU is currently not militarily capable enough to replace NATO, and its rapid reaction force can only serve as a supplement military unit to it.
EU has made it clear that its security strategy is a supplement to NATO instead of being aimed to contend with the US for leadership in the organization. The union has made a point of aligning with NATO's relevant mechanisms when devising its own strategies and policies. For instance, it has proposed to strengthen the cooperation with NATO in cyber threat response mechanisms and agencies, and intensify the coordination between its rapid reaction force and related NATO forces.
Shao Yongling analyzed that, the US is happy to see the EU build low-level defense independence as long as that doesn't interfere with its domination in Europe's defense affairs. That will not only split the cost, but also serve America's need to maintain global hegemony. But at the same time, the US doesn't want to see the EU going too far down the road of defense independence because that will undercut NATO and shake America's domination in Europe.
The US will wield its clout to steer the EU's efforts at defense capacity reinforcement to better serve America's goals and needs, said Shao.
Editor's note: Originally published on military.cnr.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
