He said the U.S deployed around 5,000 troops to secure the Kabul airport, and held up as an example the 5,000-soldier anti-jihadist French military force based in the Sahel region.įrance and Germany have pushed for years for the creation of such a force, with both Chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron repeatedly calling for a true European army. The person spoke anonymously in accordance with EU practices. “This is a number that can make a big difference in many different situations,” one senior EU official said this week. To better address any future crises at Europe's doorstep, EU member nations have floated the idea of setting up a 5,000-member stand-by-force capable of quickly intervening. We Europeans found ourselves - not only for the evacuations out of the Kabul airport but also more broadly - depending on American decisions,” the EU's top diplomat said. “But in the end, the timing and nature of the withdrawal were set in Washington. And for many years, Europeans provided a strong military commitment and an important economic aid program, amounting to a total of 17.2 billion euros, or $20.3 billion,” Borrell wrote. “Europe and the United States were united as never before in Afghanistan: It was the first time that NATO’s Article 5, committing all members to defend one another, was invoked. airpower, transportation and logistics during their two decades in Afghanistan said they were forced to pull out, too.Īnd without U.S support and equipment, European countries would not have been able to guarantee the safe passage of their citizens or even their troops out of Afghanistan.Īmid calls for “European strategic autonomy” from a non-member like the United States, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said Wednesday in a opinion piece for The New York Times that the withdrawal of Western troops and airlift from Afghanistan should serve as a “wake-up call” and urged the bloc to invest more in its security capabilities. "In my view, we do not need another such geopolitical event to grasp that the EU must strive for greater decision-making autonomy and greater capacity for action in the world.”Īfter the Biden administration pulled most of its military personnel from Afghanistan, Taliban militants took control of the conflict-ravaged country in just a few weeks as the NATO-trained Afghan national security forces withered. “As a global economic and democratic power, can Europe be content with a situation where we are unable to ensure, unassisted, the evacuation of our citizens and those under threat because they have helped us?" European Council President Charles Michel said Wednesday.
troops during the airlift of evacuees demonstrated the EU's lack of preparedness and independence.
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia - The collapse of Afghanistan's government, the Taliban’s takeover of the country, and the rush to evacuate European citizens and Afghan employees have highlighted the European Union’s need for its own rapid-reaction military force, senior EU officials say.Īs the foreign and defense ministers of member states gather in Slovenia this week to discuss the EU's approach to the Afghan crisis, officials said in interviews and public remarks that the 27-nation bloc's dependence on U.S.
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