“I believe that under the present circumstances this project makes no sense at all. The EU members are divided on this issue simply because they don’t know how this army could possibly be used,” Jan Miklas said.
“Sobotka mentions the situation in Ukraine, the Middle East, Turkey, etc., but why should a European army get enmeshed in the war going on in the Middle East, in Syria, which the US helped to set off? And whose side would it fight on there? Of the Americans, who are pursuing their own interests there, or of the Russians? The answer is clear; it would side with the Americans thus strengthening their hand there.”
“For us, Europeans, to move right into this potential flare point? No, sir! I believe that we would be much better off joining forces, both security and political, with the Eurasian Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, to restart our cooperation and give the world a real chance to put a damper on local wars and conflicts,” Jan noted.
When told that Bohuslav Sobotka had in mind using the EU army primarily to ensure European security, Jan Miklas said that he had no idea how this could possibly be done.
“If we are talking about terrorist attacks and the migrant crisis caused by total inactivity on the part of the EU bureaucracy, then where does the army come in here? What can it do when faced with such specific tasks? To patrol borders and protect the EU’s outside frontiers? But we already have enough military and security potential to do this,” Jan argued.
When asked why the Czech Republic, Hungary and partly Slovakia are holding out for a European army, while Germany, Poland and some other countries flatly reject the idea, Jan said that after the role they played in WWII, the Germans are fully aware of European jitters about their military presence on the continent.
“Poland prefers closer military cooperation with the US, whose bases they see as a guarantor of their security. As for the Czechs, Hungarians and Slovaks, they are so scared by the terrorists attacks in Europe and the migrant crisis that they are ready for everything just to feel safe,” Jan said, adding that the European army was being set up as an additional military force against Russia.
