Britain was yesterday seeking to head off attempts by France and Germany to forge ahead with an independent European military initiative that it fears will weaken NATO.
British officials will tell EU colleagues in Rome that any planning for European military operations must be carried out strictly under the auspices of the Atlantic alliance.
Paris and Brussels have called for the EU to plan and mount its own operations. They have backing from Belgium and Luxemburg -- which form part of what pro-NATO critics call the "gang of four" of EU countries who opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq.
Britain's proposals in response, submitted at the request of the Italian EU presidency, agree that the EU should be able to plan operations, but only from NATO's headquarters near Mons, Belgium, still called Shape (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) as it was at the end of World War II.
British officials admit that the central idea of a document entitled Food for Thought is deliberately intended to undercut the Franco-German-Belgian idea for an independent EU "planning cell" in Tervuren, a suburb of Brussels.
They warn that the Franco-German drive will annoy the Americans and create unnecessary duplication between the EU and NATO.
Britain and France jointly pioneered the idea of EU defense after the 1999 Kosovo war highlighted the yawning military gap between the US and Europe.
Progress has been made in setting up new institutions and procedures and modest peacekeeping missions have been mounted in Macedonia and Congo. Plans are also under way to create a 60,000-strong rapid reaction force.
It had been hoped the EU could also take over the far larger NATO-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia next year, but that is now in doubt.
Amid tensions between Paris and London, British officials are frustrated that the Franco-German plan -- initially seen as an empty gesture after the divisions of the Iraq crisis -- is still being pursued.
Defense is one of the most controversial items in the EU's draft constitution, which is due to be finalized in negotiations between all 15 member states starting in October.
Britain opposes proposals by the "gang of four" for a "solidarity clause" for victims of armed aggression, similar to NATO's article 5 on mutual defense.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has described this as one of Britain's "red lines."
He can count on the support of NATO loyalists such as the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Denmark as well as neutral or non-aligned states.
It is a sensitive issue in Britain, as the opposition Conservatives argue that any sort of EU defense initiative will damage NATO. Geoffrey Van Orden, Conservative defense spokesman in the European parliament, said: "None of this makes any military sense: it is pure politics and the loser will be the trans-Atlantic alliance and Britain's wider security interests.
"The French are likely to agree with the trivial British proposal for a `dedicated EU planning cell' while giving up none of their own ambitions. We are then likely to face the worst of both worlds -- an EU trojan horse inside NATO as well as expanding and duplicative EU structures outside."
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the