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As MEPs debated EU military policy yesterday, the chairman of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee called for the Union to develop more 'hard power' military capability and spend more money on a European Army. Jacek Saryusz-Wolski called for 'a common foreign and security policy, including a European army'. He said MEPs should in future have the final say on military missions under the EU flag - a move which would strip member states of a fundamental responsibility. France, which along with Germany and Poland has spearheaded support for greater EU defence capability, has already indicated that the issue will...

Battlegroups are first step towards a Euro army By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels European Union defence ministers will today sign off plans for battlegroups of troops poised for instant action, in a significant move towards a European army. The British and the French, the driving forces behind the scheme, will provide the first 1,500-strong battlegroup, or "expeditionary force", starting in January. The unit is to be ready for action anywhere within 15 days of a decision by EU ministers. "These are combat troops in their barracks with their boots on ready to go," a British diplomat said. The move comes...

Warnings of al Qaeda’s continuing threat came Tuesday, February 24, from Washington and London as well as one of its top leaders. Addressing the Senate intelligence committee, CIA director George Tenet spoke of the spread of al Qaeda’s radical agenda to local groups who now threaten the United States and are capable of 9/11 scale attacks. British interior secretary David Blunkett, announcing new stringent measures to combat terror, said a terrorist attack on Britain was “inevitable.” Pointing up these statements, Osama bin Laden’s deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri gave not one but two signs that his group was still after “Crusader” blood....

Euro-army force to stop Congo killing By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels (Filed: 05/06/2003) The European Union agreed yesterday to deploy the new Euro-army for the first time outside Nato command, taking charge of a high-risk United Nations mission to stop the slaughter of civilians in the Congo. The French-led force, authorised by the United Nations last week, will now come under the European Rapid Reaction Force. Most of the 1,400-strong force will be made up of French troops wearing EU insignia, backed by British specialists, and Belgian, Canadian and African troops. They will start moving into action next week, with...

Diplomatic warfare over proposals for a "Euro army" intensified yesterday as Greece and Russia came out in support while others, including Britain, condemned them as a divisive threat to Nato. Greece became the only other European Union member to support a call by France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg to boost Europe's self-reliance in defence, a day after the four countries met in Brussels. Russia added its weight, to the consternation of its erstwhile central European satellites, saying it considered "that yesterday's meeting marks the start of a process at the heart of the European Union". Igor Ivanov, the foreign minister,...