Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stated that the European Union (EU) should form its combined army to play an effective role in peacekeeping and preventing conflict.
In an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa, Tajani highlighted that closer European cooperation on defense was a priority for the Forza Italia party that he leads.
“If we want to be peacekeepers in the world, we need a European military. And this is a fundamental precondition to be able to have an effective European foreign policy,” he said.
“In a world with powerful players like the United States, China, India, Russia — with crises from the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific — Italian, German, French or Slovenian citizens can only be protected by something that already exists, namely the European Union,” the minister added.
European defense cooperation boosted its political agenda since the Russian military operation in Ukraine almost two years ago.
Nonetheless, the efforts were mainly focused on NATO expansion, with EU nation Finland joining the alliance last year and Sweden also on track to become a member.
In the same vein, Tajani underlined that the 27-nation EU should streamline its leadership and have a single presidency, rather than the current structure of a European Council president and a European Commission president.
