Tag: Project

The project that has the most support is a Dutch plan for increased military mobility. Also on the list is a “crisis response operation core,” which is described by diplomats as a project to “pre-identify forces that you could deploy in case of need.” Diplomats have long been concerned about the tension between Germany and France According to the list, Germany is the lead country on the crisis response project, but “it’s a game between the French and the Germans,” said a diplomat closely involved in the discussions. “It’s actually more of a French thing and it has an ultimate link with Macron’s idea to create an intervention force.” “French officials are using it as an example of what Pesco [as the military pact is known in EU jargon] is about,” another diplomat said. Participating members have agreed on a list of commitments, which include “increasing the share of expenditure allocated to defense research and technology” and “regularly increasing defense budgets in real terms.” More than 50 projects were put forward. A fear in some Central European countries and in the Baltics was that Pesco would remain under the control of Western countries — and of the 17 projects, four are led by Germany, four by Italy and two by France. However, the list also shows that Poland will take part in two projects (military mobility and radio interoperability) and that Lithuania is the leading country in a “cyber rapid response team.” “As cyber threats transcend national borders, so must our response” — Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskait? “Cyber security became a vital issue for international security. Earlier this year, the European Commission launched a major financial incentive for countries to cooperate on defense procurement, setting up a European Defense fund worth €5.5 billion per year. Yet its future remains linked to Macron and wider European reforms. “Prior to the elections, there was a rather binary vision that some bargain on defense and economy could be found between France and Germany with Germany agreeing to do more on defense and France agreeing to internal reforms,” said Rosa Balfour, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, a think tank. “Macron then won and went forward with internal reforms and proposing more far-reaching eurozone reform than [was to] Germany’s liking and agreeing to Pesco as Germany wanted,” she added.