Recent events in Afghanistan have highlighted the need to create its own defense system for the European Union.

This was stated by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell upon his arrival at an informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Ljubljana.

"I think (extremely. -

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) it is clear that the need to strengthen European defense has never been as obvious as it is today, after the events in Afghanistan," Borrell said.

According to him, in this regard, in October-November 2021, the final draft of the Strategic Compass security concept should be presented.

As previously noted by European diplomatic sources in the media, it will be similar in form to NATO's strategic concept, and its purpose will be to define a common vision of external threats, methods of countering them and planning joint defense projects from a series of innovative types of weapons development.

Thus, the EU will become more independent in deciding whether to conduct military operations without relying on the United States.

Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, head of the German Defense Ministry, expressed a point of view similar to Borrell's, according to whom the European Union should draw conclusions after the "bitter defeat" in Afghanistan.

“I made it very clear at the meeting of EU defense ministers: the simple truth about Afghanistan is that we Europeans offered almost no resistance to the US withdrawal decision due to lack of our own capacity,” Kramp-Karrenbauer wrote on Twitter.

She stressed that the time has come for the EU member states to contribute to the common security and defense policy.

“Afghanistan is a bitter end, a hard defeat.

In this regard, the EU should become more independent, be able to act more independently.

Trust in us will depend on this ability, ”the minister said.

In turn, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles said that the campaign in Afghanistan was a "hard lesson" for Europe, which "must be taken into account in all other missions."

“(It should be. - 

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) a turning point in the way the European Union plans to ensure security,” Robles said.

  • US military in the Afghan province of Paktika

  • © REUTERS / Goran Tomasevic

"Strike the West"

Borrell recently pointed out in an article for The New York Times that Europe needs to invest in its security capabilities to be able to respond to challenges on its own.

In his opinion, dependence on Washington in this matter has put Europe in a stalemate with regard to actions in Afghanistan.

“The victory of the Taliban * in Afghanistan was ... a serious blow to the West ... In the end, the time and date and nature of the withdrawal (of the troops. -

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) were determined in Washington.

We Europeans have found that we are dependent on US decisions not only on the evacuation of people from Kabul airport, but also on a wider range of issues.

This should serve as an alarming signal for everyone who is not indifferent to the North Atlantic Alliance, ”said the head of EU diplomacy.

And this despite the fact that throughout the mission, the European Union unconditionally supported the United States in its steps from a military point of view and provided an important program of economic assistance totaling € 17.2 billion ($ 20.3 billion).

According to Borrell, the creation of its own security strategy will increase the EU's ability to confront urgent challenges in the international arena: "A more strategically autonomous and combat-ready EU will be able to better cope with the challenges that arise in Europe's neighboring countries and beyond."

In particular, this will help the European Union reconsider its participation in the life of Afghanistan and prevent Russia and China from strengthening in the region, the head of European diplomacy noted.

“We cannot allow them (China and Russia. -

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) to be the only interlocutors with Afghanistan after the West leaves.

Europe, together with the United States, must reconsider its participation (in the life of the country. -

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), "Borrell argued.

In this regard, he noted, the "Strategic Compass" should become a document that will determine the ambitions of the European Union in matters of security and defense for the next five to ten years.

According to him, the member states are fully involved in the development of the project.

Some even propose the creation of a European rapid reaction force of up to 5,000 troops that could be quickly deployed when needed.

In general, it is planned to allocate € 8 billion to strengthen the defense capability of the union over the next six years.

  • Flags of the EU countries

  • © REUTERS / Francois Lenoir

On September 1, President of the European Council Charles Michel also spoke about the need for greater autonomy of the EU.

“We don't need a second Afghanistan to understand that the EU should strive for greater autonomy and ability to act.

Our strategic autonomy requires work on our economic strength, relations with neighbors and security capabilities, ”he said on Twitter.

European influence will be our greatest challenge.



We don't need another #Afghanistan to grasp that the EU must strive for greater autonomy and capacity for action.



Our strategic autonomy requires working on our economic power, neighborhood and security capabilities. # BSF2021pic.twitter.com / M9Nyp1n5of

- Charles Michel (@eucopresident) September 1, 2021

New old idea

Speaking about the issue of creating a military rapid reaction force, experts emphasize that it was raised a few years ago by the then President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and French President Emmanuel Macron.

So, in November 2016, Juncker said that the Americans would not be concerned about the security of Europeans in the long term, therefore, EU members should "give a new turn to the issue of a European defensive alliance, right up to the creation of a European army."

Macron, in September 2017, advocated the creation of a single EU defense budget, rapid reaction forces and even a common defense doctrine.

His idea was later supported by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, noting that Europe "needs to take its own destiny into its own hands."

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was rather skeptical about these plans.

He noted that the European Union is not able to defend itself and if it nevertheless chooses an independent path, it will inevitably lead to collapse.

“We live in a world in which we must be together.

The reality is that there are so many challenges, so many threats, so much uncertainty that the best way to protect a country is to be with other countries, ”Stoltenberg said in an interview with Spanish newspaper El Pais in November 2019.  

At the same time, experts note that the new statements of European politicians demonstrate that the EU attributed the failure in Afghanistan to US policy and is trying to distance itself from responsibility for the situation in the country.

“In this case, not only the American approaches, but also the European ones within the framework of NATO suffered a complete fiasco.

Despite this, Borrell is clearly trying to demonstrate that the unsuccessful US withdrawal from Afghanistan undermined the confidence of European allies in transatlantic solidarity, and this is now a challenge for the White House and the entire transatlantic world, "Sergei Ermakov, a leading expert at the RISS Research Coordination Center, explained in a commentary to RT.

In this regard, he pointed out, the Europeans need to reassess the real threats to the EU and only then "build a new security architecture."

Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy, spoke in the same vein, noting that Washington's actions in Afghanistan were a great disappointment for the European Union.

“Biden, when withdrawing his troops, did not take into account European interests, did not inform them about his plans.

Therefore, all members of the mission, relying on him, were trapped, as a result of which Europe suffers reputational losses and must now cope with the looming migration crisis, "said the interlocutor of RT.

In his opinion, the United States actually deceived not only its citizens, but also its European allies, who conscientiously provided Washington with all kinds of support, and as a result "found themselves at a broken trough."

An incentive for strategic autonomy

Analysts point out that in the light of the Afghan events, the positions of supporters of European autonomy in the defense sphere in the EU will now increasingly strengthen.

After all, as Vadim Kozyulin noted, the United States has created a problem for the European Union that European politicians will have to solve on their own.

“I do not exclude that the EU's resentment against the United States may increase, because the White House may avoid participating in the settlement of the Afghan problem, as a result of which Washington will again abandon Europe to cope with the consequences of the failure in Afghanistan alone.

Although the Americans took on certain obligations to the Afghans after leaving Afghanistan, ”he stressed.

Therefore, in the near future, the United States may face the fact that its strategic allies, which they need to solve their problems, will no longer follow their course so blindly, Sergei Ermakov believes.

“We can expect that in the near future more decisive actions will be taken in terms of strategic autonomy, for example, some assessments have been made, the EU defense funds programs have been strengthened, and in the future a European army will be created,” the expert suggested.

* "Taliban" - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.