In his farewell speech, he said that he did not see the need for other competing rapid reaction forces. According to the Secretary-General, the alliance is already experiencing difficulties in filling all leadership positions.
“It would be a bit strange if some countries were unable to send as many troops as they were asked to and instead created an alternative structure,” the Financial Times quotes him as saying.
At the same time, Stoltenberg added that he welcomes EU efforts in the defence field, but only if this does not lead to duplication or competition.
“Countries can only have one set of (defence) objectives, not two. This is NATO’s responsibility. One set of rules, one set of objectives, one command structure. And this is NATO,” the Secretary General stressed.
It is noteworthy that the newspaper described these statements as unusually harsh.
As TASS recalls, the idea of creating a unified European army has been discussed for the past decade. It gained particular relevance during the period when the United States was led by Donald Trump. At some point, he made it clear that his country was no longer going to provide the “defense umbrella” for Europe within the North Atlantic Alliance.
