NATO and EU defence should be merged, says military chief

Date: 27/02/03

By Dana Spinant

THE EU's top military man believes NATO and the Union's defence tasks should be merged into one organisation in which Europe and the United States each take care of defending their own areas.

Speaking from a personal point of view, four-star General Gustav Hägglund, the chief of the EU's Military Committee, says the merger should occur "by the end of this decade".

In an exclusive interview with European Voice, Hägglund warned that Europe needs to develop capacities to ensure its own defence, as Washington is less focussed on this continent.

"The US is the biggest global power and the Americans are extensively committed all over the world. It would be in everyone's best interests for the EU to take care of security in its own area." The Finn argues that a merger would also make sense from a practical point of view.

"At the end of the decade, it is likely that both the EU and NATO will have around 30 European members.

"As the vast majority will be the same countries, it will be difficult to have them doing the preparation for defence and for crisis management in two separate organisations."

This defence body would have two pillars, each ensuring the security of its area but working together when they act outside their zones.

The two blocs would be linked by a mutual defence clause and would defend each other if there was "a threat of a conventional attack or use of nuclear weapons. Then, of course, the US would help us," says Hägglund.

But the general insists that Europe has no excuse for not developing capacities to defend itself.

"It [Europe] is one of the most homogeneous areas in the world. These 450 million people should be able to defend their area against all normal threats.

"Only in exceptional cases should we have to call Washington," he said.

Hägglund, who is preparing the EU's peacekeeping debut in Macedonia - where the Union's force will take over the current NATO-led operation - is confident that Europe will handle this mission effectively.

The general hopes the 350-strong force, led by Major General Pierre Maral of France, will enter Macedonia in mid-March.

However, his nightmare vision is that the soldiers will come under attack after they are deployed. If the worst came to the worst and the EU's soldiers were in danger, NATO troops based in neighbouring Kosovowould help pull them out, as the Union's mission is not backed by an extraction unit.

"The force is a very small one, and is not really there to fight. So if it came under heavy attack, then we would have to use NATO resources to rescue the troops," he said.

However, Hägglund is confident there is no danger to Europe's soldiers. "The government is very cooperative, so I think the outlook is much better.

"It's even possible that the EU's military presence will not be needed for more than six months."

The general believes that, after Macedonia, the Union could take over the NATO-led operation in Bosnia.

The EU would be better suited to undertake the job than the North Atlantic Alliance, Hägglund stresses, as the Union has the civilian capacity necessary for the complex operation of rebuilding Bosnia-Herzegovina.

"The operation there has been going on for seven years and has been gradually shifting from military deterrence to civilian nation-building.

"Originally there were 60,000 troops, now there are just 13,000."

"Rebuilding the war-damaged country is a task particularly suited to the EU, with all the civilian means we have."

The general declines to comment on whether a war is likely to erupt in the Gulf or not.

He insisted: "It's always possible to pull back," - referring to the 250,000 troops already gathered in the Gulf region. "It is costly, of course, but it is less costly than carrying out a war."

Hägglund estimates that if there was a war against Iraq, it would take longer than the first Gulf War in 1991 (when the land invasion lasted five days, after a bombing campaign). This time, it could take several weeks because disarming Saddam Hussein implies the overrunning of Baghdad.

Hägglund also feels that a war could have a divisive effect on the EU.

On the question of whether the Union's common foreign and security policy will be a "casualty" of a possible attack on Iraq, he admits that a war not backed by the UN Security Council could harm Union ambitions to have a common defence policy.

General Gustav Hägglund, the chief of the EU's Military Committee, believes NATO and the European Union's defence tasks should be merged into one organisation in which Europe and the United States each take care of defending their own areas.