Conservative MP Warns Against ‘Most Dangerous Policy’ As EU President Outlines Unified Defence Strategy

A NATO commander calls for a military Schengen-style zone for troops, as Ursula von der Leyen hints at a desire to reverse Brexit and draw closer EU ties.

(L-R) British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, US President Joe Biden and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attend the first day of the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania on July 11, 2023. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

A Conservative MP has voiced strong opposition to the European Union’s (EU) potential establishment of a military force, labelling it the “most dangerous policy.”

Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury, expressed concerns about potential EU aspirations to create a supranational army, telling The Epoch Times such plans “must be stopped.”

He highlighted the risk of undermining NATO’s supremacy, a defence organisation that has maintained peace on the continent for 70 years. Mr. Kawczynski urged vigilance against EU “fanatics” in Brussels and emphasised the significance of preserving NATO’s defence supremacy.

Mr. Kawczynski urged vigilance against “EU fanatics” in Brussels and emphasised the significance of preserving NATO’s defence supremacy.

“If the European Union fanatics and Brussels managed to usurp the supremacy of NATO, they will drive away countries like America, Canada, Norway, Iceland, Britain, and Turkey, away from the common defence of our continent… My goodness me, if they drive away America, the world’s only superpower and the United Kingdom? Can you imagine what would happen to our continent? If it wasn’t predicated in that interdependence that exists across the Atlantic?

“This is the most dangerous policy that you could possibly envisage. And this is why we’ve got to warn our friends in Poland and other European countries, that the fanatics in Brussels must be stopped. And never should the supremacy of NATO, in terms of defence, be usurped by any aspirations of the European Union.”

Vision For A Unified EU Defence Strategy

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, presented her vision today for a unified European defence strategy during a keynote speech in Brussels. While avoiding the term “European army,” Ms. von der Leyen emphasised the EU’s role as an intrinsic security project.

She called for greater European engagement globally, particularly in regions like the Indo-Pacific, acknowledging the interlinked nature of global security. Ms. Von der Leyen highlighted the need for Member States’ armed forces to be prepared for various scenarios, encompassing traditional and hybrid threats across different domains.

Addressing the European Defence Agency Annual Conference, Ms. von der Leyen stated, “Our partners are asking for greater European engagement in other parts of the world, such as the Indo-Pacific, and we must recognize that our security is more closely interlinked than ever before.”

She underscored the importance of Member States’ armed forces being prepared for various scenarios, encompassing traditional and hybrid threats across different domains like land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace.

Emphasising the security implications of various Union policies, she noted, “Most of our Union’s policies have direct security implications. From our transport policy for military mobility, our agricultural policy for food security, from trade to research, from energy to communications, at times of unprecedented threats, we must refocus our attention on the security dimension of all our policies. We must once again think about our union as intrinsically a security project.”

However, Ms. von der Leyen acknowledged that collective defence remains primarily the responsibility of member states and NATO.

‘Attributes Of An Artificial Supranational State’

Mr. Kawczynski continued in opposition to any drawing together of a European military force, saying, “Some of us have been warning for many years in the House of Commons that essentially the European Union, in its aspirations to create this artificial supranational state, has to control all the essential planks, platforms, elements of a society in the country. They’ve been very effective in taking control of people’s currencies, 19 Eurozone countries, eight countries that have joined that are not Eurozone but are contractually obliged to join.

“There’s only one country on our continent that has an opt-out from the Eurozone, Denmark. So they control, they’re taking control of the currency. They’re taking control of the legislation, foreign policy, and all those other essential attributes of an artificial supranational state.”

He further explained, “And now we have the outgoing Polish defence minister, Mr. Blaszczak, for the first time saying they [the EU] are now undermining the supremacy of NATO, an organisation that has kept the peace on our continent for 70 years, hasn’t lost a square inch of territory since its inception 70 years ago.”

NATO Call For ‘Military Schengen’

NATO’s logistics command JSEC, Lieutenant-General Alexander Sollfrank, told Reuters last Thursday that he would like to see a “military Schengen” for NATO troops, an area of free military passage akin to the political Schengen zone that allows free movement within most of the EU.

The task of quickly deploying forces up to a size of a division with some 20,000 troops, as well as having ammunition, fuel, spare parts and provisions in place, has become trickier since the Cold War.

While NATO and Warsaw Pact troops in the past faced each other mainly in Germany, the alliance has since expanded some 1,000 kilometres to the east, multiplying the length of NATO’s eastern flank to some 4,000 kilometres in total.

“The expanse of space, the fact that not all forces are forward-based—all this means that the alliance has to be quick in moving troops from their bases to the right spot on the eastern flank,” Mr. Sollfrank noted, adding this needed preparation.

“At the heyday of the war in Ukraine, Russia fired 50,000 artillery shells per day. These rounds have to reach the howitzers,” he said. “So you have to set up warehouses—for ammunition, fuel, spare parts and provisions.”

As it is, NATO forces have to navigate a variety of national regulations, stretching from the advance notice required before ammunition can be shipped to the permissible length of military convoys and disease prophylaxis.

“We have a surplus of regulations, but the one thing we don’t have is time,” warned Admiral Rob Bauer, head of NATO’s military committee. “Russia’s war against Ukraine has proven to be a war of attrition—and a war of attrition is a battle of logistics.”

NATO has warned its members that too much red tape is hindering troop movements across Europe, a problem that could cause major delays if a conflict with a foreign state like Russia erupts.

Von Der Leyen Wants Brexit Reversal

This comes as Ms. von der Leyen told Politico yesterday that she would like to see a reversal of Brexit.

She said, “First of all, thank God. With the Windsor agreement, we had a new beginning for old friends. Very important.

“And then I must say, I keep telling my children, you have to fix it. We goofed it up. You have to fix it. So I think here, too, the direction of travel, my personal opinion, is clear.”