EU: The Government has ruled out a call from the Polish president for the creation of a 100,000-strong European Union army to work with Nato in trouble spots around the world or to defend Europe.
President Lech Kaczynski said on a visit to Lithuania yesterday that his proposal was to form an EU army, which could act within the "frame of Nato" to make the bloc more active in global politics, while not undermining the role of Nato itself.
"The EU had problems to collect 8,000 soldiers for a mission in Lebanon. A situation like this should not continue," he said.
He noted that an EU constitution, ratified by some EU members, provided the elements of a federal state but "when it comes to common action in the field [of security] it has no capabilities".
"I hope the idea [ of an EU army] will be realised in the future, but it is not a question of the next two or three years," President Kaczynski added.
However, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern said last night that Ireland would "not enter into any arrangement that would entail a common defence, a position reflected in the Irish constitution".
Any Irish deployment as part of the EU's rapid response battlegroups would be subject to the "triple lock" of Government decision, Dáil approval, and UN authorisation, he added.
"As far as I am concerned the issue of an EU army does not arise. Ireland will continue its close involvement with the UN and its role defending human rights and assisting in combating world poverty and hunger. Our growing aid programme underlines this commitment. All decisions related to the EU's security and defence policy are by unanimity."
A spokeswoman for Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea pointed out yesterday that there is a provision for a 60,000-strong EU force to be assembled from constituent nations, and mobilised within 60 days.
"A development of this has been the battlegroups concept, whereby the EU would maintain 3,000 troops on permanent standby to deploy quickly to trouble spots and these are available to the United Nations. Ireland is playing its role in both of these." She said in this context Ireland would not believe there was a necessity for a standalone European army as suggested by Poland.
"Ireland is not part of any military alliance and intends to retain that position but does pursue a policy of active neutrality and plays its part in a range of trouble spots across the world under the auspices of the United Nations."
Roger Cole of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance said the proposal was part of the process of people having to decide if they wanted a nuclear superstate or not. "Its all about what type of Europe you want," he said.
President Kaczynski said he hoped to raise the matter with British prime minister Tony Blair during his two-day visit to the UK, which began yesterday.
He said he had spoken twice about it to European Commission president José Manuel Barroso and that his brother, Polish prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, had raised the issue with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, on a visit to Berlin last week.
- (additional reporting by Reuters)