DISINFO: EU wants to create its own army to defend against the US
SUMMARY
In the European Union, they thought about creating their own unified army to confront the United States. The EU feels threatened by the Americans, says the report of the European Court of Auditors and the EU’s own army will be designed to protect it from all directions, especially the USA.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin narrative about the possible European army. In the report of the European Court of Auditors, cited by the Russian media, there is not a single mention that the European Union, through the creation of the unified army, is allegedly preparing to defend itself from the United States. Instead, the first paragraph emphasises that the impetus for the development of defence in the EU was given by Russian aggression against Ukraine. It stipulates that the annexation of Crimea by Russia, the development of transatlantic relations, the strengthening and diversification of security threats and the return of competition between leading states have given a new impetus to EU defence cooperation. Moreover, the report emphasises that before the start of Russian aggression in Ukraine, the collective defence spending of the EU member states was declining from year to year, and the trend towards an increase in spending appeared only relatively recently. For the next six years, the period from 2021 to 2027, the European Commission proposes to increase funding for foreign policy and defence initiatives to 22.5 billion euros. For comparison, from 2014 to 2020, the amount was 2.8 billion euros. Read more fakes about the Europe army myth here and US presence in Europe here.