The EU has moved a step closer towards having a joint military force by signing an agreement on a permanent command structure.
The agreement on PESCO, or Permanent Structured Cooperation, was signed in Brussels by 23 members of the 28-strong European Union on Monday.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini supported the move, hailing it as an “historic moment.” Backed by a €5-billion ($6.5-billion) EU defense fund, PESCO “will enable member states to use the economy of scale of Europe and in this manner to fulfil the gap of output that we have.”
The agreement will come into force in December, after which members will be legally bound to participate in projects under PESCO. Work on the pact started last year amid uncertainty over the UK’s decision to withdraw from the European Union, and US President Donald Trump’s continued criticism of European NATO members for failing to deliver on defense-spending commitments.
European heavyweights Germany and France are leading the effort to bring the EU closer to having a permanent joint armed force. The UK, which has been opposing a pan-European military force for decades, is not part of the agreement. Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, and Malta opted out; while Austria, not a member of NATO, agreed to join at the last moment.
PESCO is touted as a path to boost the efficiency of the European military by eliminating redundancies, streamlining defense acquisitions, and boosting logistics through a network of hubs spread across the continent. It is also intended to establish joint training of military officers. NATO’s attempt to reform the contribution of European allies goes along similar lines.
According to Reuters, Germany and France were in disagreement over the future role for a joint European military force, with Paris advocating for a more exclusive and capable defense club with potential for overseas deployments. Berlin, which championed a more inclusive approach, apparently prevailed with its vision.
Unlike some other efforts in Europe to consolidate their military, PESCO is not being opposed by NATO, which says it will make the militaries of European members stronger.
How the future pan-European military would be used is yet to be seen.
However, the EU may be preparing for a possible significant instability affecting some of its members, suggested geostrategic expert Konstantin Sokolov.
“In a scenario of social disruption in a country, its police force becomes unreliable because it is staffed by regular citizens, who have local families and friends and may not support the government policies. They are affected by the turmoil,” he told RT. “But an international force would just follow orders and are less impacted by the sentiment in the local population.”
Surprised? No reason to be. Both the UK government and the United Nations have long, long records of appeasement and accommodation of Muslims, and have never shown any significant concern for the Muslim persecution of Christians that has seen Muslims massacre Christians all over the Middle East, and displace hundreds of thousands of them from their homes.
This is just more of the same. But what is motivating it? Why this death wish among the political elites of the West? Do they not realize the disruption and bloodshed that is going to ensue from the massive influx of Muslims into the West? Or do they just not care? And if they don’t care, why not? It appears that the globalist, socialist elites are determined to destroy the very concept of the nation-state and erase all distinctions between people. This effort cannot and will not be accomplished without bloodshed.
“UK government discriminates against Christian refugees from Syria”, Barnabas Aid, November 2, 2017:
THE UK government and the UN are discriminating against Christians and other minorities in their refugee programmes according to new Home Office statistics, seen by Barnabas Aid an aid agency which works for persecuted Christians.
Last week Barnabas Aid finally obtained figures proving that the UN has only recommended tiny token numbers of Syrian Christians, Yazidis and other minorities for resettlement in the UK.
The overwhelming majority of refugees recommended by the UN have been Sunni Muslims who form the majority in Syria. But Christians, and other minorities have been repeatedly targeted for attack by Islamist groups such as IS.
The new statistics, obtained in a Freedom of Information Request to the Home Office by Barnabas Aid, of the religious background of Syrian asylum seekers recommended by the UNHCR for resettlement in the UK revealed:
o In 2015 out of 2,637 refugees there were only 43 Christians, just 13 Yazidis and only one Shia Muslim. In 2016 the statistics were even worse. Out of 7,499 refugees there were only 27 Christians, five Yazidis and 13, Shia Muslims.
o It is widely accepted that Christians made up 10 per cent of Syria’s pre-war population and Shia’s around 1.5 per cent while there are estimated to have been 70,000 Yazidis in Syria.
Disturbingly, UK officials tried to prevent the release of this information. Barnabas Aid submitted a freedom of Information request to the UK Home Office in February. And in spite of being legally required to release it within 28 days, officials failed to do so and repeatedly stalled or simply did not answer correspondence.
“This is shocking behaviour by both UN and UK officials. In 2005 the UN formally adopted the responsibility of states to protect citizens from genocide and crimes against humanity. These statistics show that the UN has itself failed miserably and inexcusably in this respect,” said Martin Parsons, Head of Research at Barnabas Aid.
“Christians and other minorities in the Middle East have been treated shamefully by the UN. And the UK government has abjectly outsourced its own responsibilities to the victims of genocide in spite of repeated representations,” he added.
Barnabas Aid obtained these figures just as US Vice President Mike Pence announced that the US government would now directly help persecuted Christians ……
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