Spain calls on Europe to have its own army to avoid dependence on third countries

That’s interesting seeing as they are the least involved in nato (gdp % wise) from big members

Maybe eu army would interest them enough to chip in

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Agreed, but I hope they start actively participating, they are the 4th biggest EU country and they show zero interest to be in the “big boys” discussion on security, Russia and proactive deterrence.

Incoming Dutch PM also [calling](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Ftdq1gpdddbdg1.png) for the creation of a European Army. It’s an idea whose time has come. Macron was right.

There has been a negative feeling towards the army in some sectors of the Spanish society, particularly since the Civil War. Investing in a European army is definitely easier to sell for a centre-left party.

More important than an army is a strategic nuclear deterrence that can replace the US former role globally.

Going to cost us way more but seems like it’s necessary since America went off the rails. We all, America included, had a good run. We could all halve our spending if the alliance held as it did before. But trust in America is gone now for at least a generation.

Many people here are ignoring the fact that Spain is one of the few countries that has been involved always in every nato mission, like air policing the baltics intercepting Russian planes, deployment of ground troops, tanks and antiair defenses in Latvia, or leading the EU Atalanta mission against piracy.

Also, last years literally doubled %gdp defense spending (that before that, yeah, was pretty low), only opposing to commit to the 5% target pulled out of Trump’s ass.

Wonder how the likes of Ireland handle this, instead of hiding behind Europe from Russia the new threat is across the Atlantic. Forward location for EU navel base and airforce base for protecting shipping to Greenland and Canada.

will everyone need to learn the same language?

To avoid dependence on **third world countries** *

France has been advocating for that since 1950 and repeating it nonstop till that date.

The NATO organization (always led by US generals) always officially advocates not as “a moral hazard” and a low blow to the USA (being strategically independent is a moral hazard for the USA hegemony).

Each time new EU members were added, they would be opposed to that due to timorousness and US military ties (Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Malta, Sweden, Czechia, and Austria were always opposed to European Army building up). Another side of the story is some countries (Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Spain…) agreed to the idea but were in reality always torpedoing it to keep their Atlantic “privileged link” with Washington and particularly their nuclear umbrella at the cost of total military dependence on the USA. After being mocked for 75 years about their European strategic independence will, France is no more alone in understanding the never-ending carrot-and-stick American’s trap and the “spend each time less money on military” because someone will come to save us is simply strenghten the american leach for the whole Europe.

For me Spain always felt so removed from everything happening in Europe and you woudn`t think that as Spain with France, Germany, UK and Italy are usually seen as the heavy lifters in Europe

Also Portugal. Seems so isolated from everything happening on the continent. They are just chilling.