The Council of the European Union has approved a number of joint European defense projects. According to a press release posted on the Council's website, in 2019, thirteen new directions were added to 34 existing projects.
“The Council approved an updated list of 13 projects to be implemented as part of the PESCO structured cooperation and defense policy. Today’s solution increases to 47 the number of ongoing projects, ”the press release said.
Part of the new areas of work is related to personnel training in such areas as cybersecurity, medicine, as well as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear safety.
- AFP
- © Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD
Other projects are aimed at improving the coordination of European countries and strengthening the collective defense potential of the EU in the maritime, air and outer space.
Among the new defense projects is the TWISTER initiative (“Timely Prevention and Interception by Space Observation of the Theater of War”), France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Finland intend to take part in the project. As specified in the document, "the spectrum of threats on European territory is evolving towards more complex and constantly evolving air threats, especially in the missile sphere."
The TWISTER initiative is designed to help European countries “quickly detect and track these threats, as well as effectively counter them.” This will be possible thanks to the development of space-based early warning systems and intra-atmospheric interceptors.
“This project will contribute to the development of Europe’s sustainable potential to make its own contribution to NATO’s missile defense,” the document says.
Experts note that European countries already possess missile defense systems, but they are integrated into the common NATO system. At the same time, Europeans can create their own tracking systems, but they are unlikely to succeed in the near future, analysts say.
“In principle, it is not particularly difficult for the EU to single out this component as its own, but this is unlikely to be discussed. As for the creation of missile defense and anti-satellite defense, Europeans do not yet have the necessary technologies, such as would allow them to fight medium-range missiles, as well as ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles). To create such weapons, the EU will need gigantic financial investments and scientific and technical resources, ”said Viktor Murakhovsky, military expert and editor-in-chief of Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine.
A similar point of view is shared by military expert Yuri Knutov.
“Today, no European country has a missile defense system, and the development of such a complex will take at least 10 years,” the expert said in an interview with RT.
Power lessons
Recall that the program of Permanent Structured Cooperation on Security and Defense (PESCO) was established by the countries of the European Union in November 2017. The project was joined by 25 EU member states.
But EU joint defense projects are not limited to PESCO. The idea of creating a pan-European army has been discussed by the leadership of the European Union for several decades. In the early 1990s, the “European Corps” was created, and in June 2017, the European Defense Fund was announced.
The most active supporter of the idea of forming a pan-European army is Emmanuel Macron, elected in 2017 as president of France. The politician has repeatedly called on EU partners to create European defense structures, separate from NATO.
- Emmanuel Macron
- Reuters
- © Ludovic Marin / Pool
“We should have a Europe that defends itself primarily on its own, without fully relying on the United States,” Macron said earlier. And in a recent interview with The Economist, the French leader emphasized that gaining autonomy from NATO in the security field is a priority for Europe.
France’s EU partners in practice support Paris initiatives, but are not ready to openly criticize NATO. As stated by Ursula von der Leyen, recently elected as president of the European Commission, Europe must “learn the language of power” in order to more effectively defend its interests.
“Europeans cannot take confident positions in the world with“ soft power ”alone. Europe must also learn the language of power, ”said von der Layen.
However, the head of the EC did not support the criticism that Emmanuel Macron had attacked on the North Atlantic Alliance earlier. According to Ursula von der Leyen, the alliance has established itself, despite a certain “turbulence”.
Recall that today the United States is deploying its missile defense systems in Central and Eastern Europe. In 2001, the administration of George W. Bush announced the withdrawal of the United States from the ABM Treaty, explaining this decision by the need to confront the "rogue countries" and terrorists.
However, the United States began to deploy missile defense systems, first of all, at the Russian borders in Europe. In 2016, the Pentagon opened the first missile defense base in Eastern Europe. According to Washington, it is supposedly designed to intercept Iranian and North Korean ballistic missiles. However, the year before, Iran signed the JCPOA, according to which it abandoned plans to develop its own nuclear program.
In the foreseeable future, another US missile defense ground base should appear in Poland - we are talking about the Aegis Ashore missile defense system.
Pentagon Umbrella
Moscow has repeatedly stated that the Aegis Ashore system is capable of performing not only defensive, but also offensive functions - the Mk 41 launchers used in the Aegis Ashore system can be used to launch not only anti-ballistic missiles, but also medium-range Tomahawk cruise missiles .
Until recently, the deployment of ground launchers for intermediate and shorter-range missiles was prohibited by the INF Treaty. However, in August 2019, the treaty ceased to be in force, as the United States unilaterally withdrew from it.
The collapse of the INF Treaty alarmed the European Union, which is now at risk of becoming a target for Russian weapons due to the deployment of US missiles on its territory. According to the Minister of the Armed Forces of France, Florence Parley, in an interview with Le Monde, arms control should be addressed with the participation of Europe.
- The ground version of the Aegis Ashore PRO
- Reuters
- © Inquam Photos / Adel Al-Haddad
“We Europeans cannot stand aside and suffer losses from the gap (agreements that were concluded between the USA and the Soviet Union, and then with Russia. - RT ). It’s not very comfortable to be within range of missiles, ”the minister said.
Although NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier that the alliance has no plans to deploy new ground-based missile systems in Europe, there are no guarantees that this will not happen. This point of view in October 2019 was expressed by the ambassador of Russia to the United States Anatoly Antonov.
“There is no guarantee that the next US step will not be related to the deployment of similar systems in Europe,” the diplomat said in an article for National Interest.
According to experts, the desire of European countries to create their own missile defense system is connected precisely with the liquidation of the INF Treaty.
As Viktor Murakhovsky reminded, Moscow has repeatedly stated that it is not going to deploy medium-range missile systems near the borders of Europe if the United States does not deploy its similar systems in the region.
“Most likely, European countries themselves cannot understand what they expect from Washington. If the United States deployed its systems, Europeans cannot hope that they can defend themselves against Russian medium-range missiles with deployed missile defense systems. This fragile situation in many respects demonstrates that Europe still does not have independence and is not even able to assume whether the Americans will deploy their missiles in its own territory, ”the expert said.
A similar point of view is shared by Yuri Knutov. As the expert explained, the TWISTER initiative, on the one hand, is connected with the collapse of the INF Treaty, and on the other, it shows Europeans' fears to remain without missile defense if the States refuse to cover Europe with their "umbrella."
“In addition, the creation of their own missile defense is inextricably linked with the creation of a full-fledged pan-European army. European countries are increasing military spending, although so far the rhetoric is still more than real measures. Some of the European countries are ready now to join the arms race, while others are delaying this. One thing is obvious: the deployment of European missile defense is unlikely to have a good effect on relations between Europe and Russia, ”the expert summed up.