Europe has no need of an “EU Army” or of NATO
Statement of Costas Christodoulides, Head of the International Relations and European Affairs Department of the C.C. of AKEL
AKEL C.C. Press Office, 9th March 2015, Nicosia
The invocation of European values by the European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is being used to promote yet again the formation of an “EU army”, which, as he states, will also send the corresponding message to Russia. At a time when EU single economic policy, founded on the neoliberal dogma, has led to social degeneration and decay to the benefit of the monopolies and the hegemonic forces, the European Commission President is again putting on the table the position for a combined army of the European Union to the benefit of course of the military – industrial establishment.
There is an attempt to cover-up the increasing militarization of international relations, the NATO-US-EU aggression in Eastern Europe and elsewhere by ambiguous propaganda about the defence of so-called European values. They are hiding the fact that the EU already has enormous military capabilities at its disposal, such as the Battle Groups and that it is spending annually billions of Euros from people’s pockets to carry out military missions outside Europe. All this is taking place jointly with NATO. This is the same foreign and defence policy that is aggravating the international situation and constantly threatening peace, whilst the EU tolerates and encourages, for example, the provocations in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Republic of Cyprus. The EU does not question NATO, but is institutionalizing its cooperation with it.
Europe has no need of “EU armies” or of NATO. It needs strategic cooperation, solidarity and peace, the combatting of unemployment and poverty. The Government of the Republic of Cyprus should not be a mere spectator of developments that will in fact also bind Cyprus too. It needs to abandon the policy of the “We belong to the West” doctrine because, inter alia, it is leading our people to assume commitments against its own interests.
