Von der Lyen: EU must develop "credibile military capabilites"

Author: Alexandru-Marian Crenganiș

The EU is a master of rebuilding but must develop hard power — “credible military capabilities” — to influence world events, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told the World Economic Forum. She stressed that these capabilities will be complementary to NATO and “different.”

"We must also do more when it comes to managing crises as they develop," von der Leyen said in a keynote speech at the annual gathering of billionaires and business titans in Switzerland. "And for that, Europe also needs credible military capabilities and we have set up the building blocks of the European Defense Union. It is complementary to NATO and it is different."

Von der Leyen, who was German defense minister before being tapped for the European Union's top job last June, has previously endorsed the concept of an "EU army" — at least as a sort of rhetorical call for improving the bloc's collective military and defense capabilities, if not a literal expectation of soldiers in EU uniforms. But the early days of her Commission, with flare-ups of conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, have only highlighted the EU's limited capabilities and influence.

In her speech on Davos, von der Leyen acknowledged that the EU had at times been caught flat-footed in responding to geopolitical conflicts, and even conceded that EU countries have at times been too divided on foreign policy, particularly in the case of the civil war in Libya.

“It takes very little power to break a fragile balance, but the true power lies in putting the pieces back together again," she said. "During the last decade, Europeans learnt the importance of a stable neighborhood. From Ukraine to the shores of the Mediterranean, from the Western Balkans to the Sahel, we have learnt the importance to invest more in long-term stability and to prevent crises. This is where Europe can make a real difference.”