A European Army Makes Europe Stronger not Weaker,” says German Defense Minister
Transcripts, audio, video on the web: http://www.brusselsforum.org
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Transcripts, audio, video on the web: http://www.brusselsforum.org
“A European Army Makes Europe Stronger not Weaker,” says German Defense Minister
~ NATO Sec Gen Says Russia Difficult to Trust ~
BRUSSELS (March 20, 2015) – On the opening day of the 10th Brussels Forum, German Minister of Defense Ursula von der Leyen called for greater European defense cooperation, particularly in light of Russia’s actions in Ukraine. “I’m convinced a European army makes Europe stronger not weaker, and it makes the transatlantic alliance stronger, not weaker.”
Von der Leyen spoke at Brussels Forum, an annual conference on transatlantic relations organized by The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) and attended by heads of state, officials from the EU institutions and member states, U.S. officials, congressional representatives, parliamentarians, and academics.
She said that Europe’s level of cooperation regarding Ukraine has surprised the Russian leadership. “If there is one thing that Putin did not expect, it is that the European Union is capable of acting in unity,” she said. “We have 28 very heterogeneous member states, but when it’s getting serious, we know what we stand up for.”
On the same panel, Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, U.S. national security advisor in the Carter administration, advocated a multi-pronged approach toward Russia. “I favor both deterrence, including an alliance of force if necessary, and accommodation, for example the assurance to the Russians that it is not our intent to make Ukraine a member of NATO.”
At a session later in the day that also focused on Russia, Federica Mogherini, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, said that the European Union’s sanctions on Russia were not designed to destabilize that country. “A destabilized Russia is not in the interest of the European Union or I think of the world.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO was anxious to resolve the crisis in Ukraine peacefully, but expressed frustration with some of the parties involved. “Trust and a respect for rules is a pre-condition for a win-win.” He said that Russia’s actions in Ukraine “undermines all arms control, undermines economic trade, and undermines security in Europe.”
“It’s not hard to respect borders,” Stoltenberg said. “You see the borders and you respect them.”
Victoria Nuland, U.S. assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs, agreed. “You can’t have win-wins without trust,” she said. “In order to have trust, you have to have truth. When you have a country denying it has troops on another country’s territory, there’s no trust.”
In the final session of the day, Cecilia Malmström, the European commissioner for trade said, “as the world is developing, the relative voice of Europe and the U.S. is shrinking.” She explained that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership is a way to reinforce the global position of the transatlantic powers. “And also if we fail, we send a very bad signal to the world that we weren’t able to fulfill this.”
Michael Froman, U.S. trade representative, echoed Malmström’s comments. “These trade agreements are not directed against any country, but they are directed toward raising our standards and translating our values, standards, and rules around the world, whether it’s on protection of workers or protection of the environment.”
Earlier, Didier Reynders, Belgium’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs, offered remarks on the ongoing situation in Ukraine. “The crisis we are going through in Europe that is due to the conflict in Ukraine is a result of years of hard power,” he said. “It is not even a zero-sum game; it is a negative sum game. Everybody loses.”
Reynders also announced the winners of the fourth annual Brussels Forum Young Writers Award. Max Smeets and George Bogden, both students at Oxford University, won with their essay “Medicine for Fear: Transatlantic Leadership in Emergency Funding for Epidemics of Communicable Diseases.”
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Brussels Forum is an annual high-level meeting of the most influential U.S., European, and global political, corporate, and intellectual leaders to address pressing challenges currently facing both sides of the Atlantic. With over 50 countries represented and more than 400 attendees, the 10th annual Brussels Forum include heads of state, senior officials from the European Union institutions and the member states, U.S. government officials and Congressional representatives, parliamentarians, academics, and media. For the 10th annual Brussels Forum, GMF is honored to feature four co-chairs who provide support and intellectual leadership to the discussions: Dr. Zbigniew Brzezinski, counselor and trustee, Center for Strategic & International Studies; Frank Friedman, CEO, Deloitte LLP; Herman van Rompuy, former president of the European Council; and Dr. Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management, Daimler AG. GMF is joined in this initiative by our founding partners Daimler and the Federal Authorities of Belgium. We are also pleased to welcome Deloitte as a strategic partner, and BP, Chevron, The OCP Policy Center, and UPS as forum partners. In addition, we would like to recognize the support of our associate partners: the Asan Institute, Bank of America, Brussels Capitol Region, the Latvian Ministry of Defence, NATO, and the Wilfried Martens Centre. Finally, we appreciate the backing of our dinner program partners, AT&T, IBM, and Solvay. We thank Lufthansa Airlines Group as the official airline partner for Brussels Forum and recognize SpotMe as the creator of the official Brussels Forum app, BFconnect.
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