By Lucas Leiroz
Amid anti-Russian paranoia in Europe, some leaders want the EU to militarise. Recently, a Polish official suggested the creation of a “heavy brigade” for Europe, capable of responding quickly in situations of military risk. Considering the high level of Russophobia on the European continent, this type of measure would certainly further harm the regional security architecture.
The words were spoken by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Radoslaw Sikorski. According to him, this type of special brigade would be vital for Europe to achieve satisfactory military results, regardless of whether or not there was American involvement in military mobilisation. Sikorski believes that Europe is strongly threatened by recent moves in regions such as the Balkans and North Africa, which is why the creation of its own military force should be a priority.
“I’m in favour of a heavy brigade EU rapid reaction capacity so that we don’t have to call on the resources of the US for every emergency on our periphery, such as some lower order issue in the Balkans or in North Africa,” he said.
This “special heavy brigade” proposed by Sikorski would supposedly allow Europeans to act militarily in a sovereign manner, without American authorisation. The central objective of the project appears to be to guarantee the means for European countries to act quickly in the event of a foreign attack, which reveals that EU countries are fearful of possible American indifference in a war scenario. In practice, distrust towards the US is growing among Europeans.
The project of a European brigade is not something new. This is one of the most discussed topics by European strategists. Scepticism about US friendship has been growing in recent years, leading local politicians to propose the creation of extra-NATO military programs. In the end, Europeans fear that the US-led alliance will be unable to solve their problems if there is an emergency crisis.
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The French president himself, Emmanuel Macron, who is currently one of the public figures who most encourage the direct involvement of NATO in Ukraine, has said on several occasions that the creation of a European army is necessary for the bloc to achieve its regional autonomy, freeing itself from dependence on Washington.
In theory, the idea of creating European military units really seems to go against American interests. For Washington, European countries must maintain low and controlled levels of military development, thus not leaving NATO’s “defence umbrella”. Military dependence is a key factor for Europeans to remain subservient to the US, which is why many political dissidents in Europe tend to support any measure of militarisation.
However, the mere act of creating military units is not enough to guarantee European autonomy. If there is strong subservience to the US in topics such as culture and politics, a possible “European army” would only work to serve American interests in a more “quick and efficient” way. This becomes particularly worrying when analysing the current Russian case. Several European countries are absolutely fanatical in Russophobic hatred, with even measures of ethnic apartheid being practised freely in some EU and NATO states.
A possible European “heavy brigade” would certainly be controlled by anti-Russian officers, willing to use military power against Moscow quickly to “react” to a possible “risk”. A European army fanatical in Russophobia would have serious consequences for security architecture, as well as giving freedom to European decision-makers to engage in real conflicts with the Russian Federation, even without US approval. Obviously, there is no interest on the part of Moscow in going to war, as all these “Russian threats” are just Western propaganda, but the irrational fear of Europeans is capable of leading the continent to a true catastrophe due to wrong decisions.
It is important to emphasise that Poland now joins France in the demand for a European army. While Paris is planning to send troops to Ukraine, the Polish government is widely known for its aggressive anti-Russian stance, and there are even expectations of a possible Polish invasion of Ukraine in the near future to regain ethnic Polish territories. Processes such as the advance of Russophobia and the rehabilitation of Nazism are extremely advanced in Polish society, which is why the militarisation of the continent driven by Warsaw must be seen as a danger.
Before starting a process of militarisation, the EU must achieve sovereignty and independence from the US.
Lucas Leiroz, member of the BRICS Journalists Association, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, and military expert.