A Dutch minister is campaigning for European defense, that's changing!
(BRUSSELS2) Would the Netherlands - whose committed Atlanticism we know - switch to the recognition of deepening European defense? Thus doing in a way the opposite path of France which, under the impetus of Nicolas Sarkozy, wants to get closer to NATO. You can believe it reading Maxime Verhagen, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, who signs a tribune in the daily Volkskrant. So I can't resist giving you a few long extracts.
Have a convincing, strong and flexible defense policy.
"The times are ripe for more investment in defence, certainly within the framework of the EU“, he wrote.”Only then can Europe be an important actor on the world political stage."The development of the situation in the Caucasus once again underlines the need for a convincing European security and defense policy" he continues.If we want Europe to be a force capable of making the world more stable, it must be given a strong and flexible defense capability. It is therefore right that the French presidency has made the strengthening of the security and defense policy one of its priorities.. NATO will also benefit from it: the European partners, indeed, must also be able to assume their responsibilities within the alliance. In short, it is time to give a strong impetus."
Invest in hard power (defence) and soft power (crisis management)
"This means: better cooperation within the European Union and more investment in European defence, including in the Netherlands. If we are to take the risks of today's uncertain world seriously, we must also make a serious defense effort. This investment in the hard power is a necessary condition to keep Europe in the saddle in world politics. In addition to increasing our military capability, we must also continue to invest in our soft power". And the minister mentioned the mission which is going to Georgia with experts in the field of human rights, the police and justice as well as observers with military experience. "This soft power is at least as important when it comes to ensuring stability. It is precisely in this field that the EU has recently demonstrated its added value: the Union has taken part in crisis management operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo and has trained the Palestinian police. I am proud of it: it gives Europe visibility in the world. At the same time, we propagate the basic values of our European cooperation: freedom, democracy and respect for human rights."
Shaping the European intervention force.
"I expect the need for our engagement to only grow in today's world. So we can do more in Afghanistan: the need for civilian capability to complement military capability is huge there." "We must give shape to the European intervention force, which has existed mainly on paper until now“, concludes the head of Dutch diplomacy. “It is not only as the EU, but also as the Netherlands that we have to work on this. This is why I advocate a national pool of experts who can be mobilized quickly for European missions, with good support and financed by a clear national mechanism".
What more can be said ?...