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EU Opens New Military HQ Despite Fears It Undermines NATO

REUTERS/Yves Herman

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Jacob Bojesson Foreign Correspondent
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The European Union approved a new military headquarters Monday despite concerns from members it undermines NATO.

The facility will employ 30 people to coordinate EU countries’ military structures. Several nations — including the United Kingdom, Hungary and Poland — have opposed the idea of a European army, but defense ministers from all 28 countries “unanimously” agreed on the new headquarters.

“Today we decided to establish a MPCC (Military Planning Conduct and Capability facility) which will command the EU’s non-executive military missions,” EU Foreign Affairs Minister Federica Mogherini said in a statement Monday. “This is one of the fields where traditionally we have had in the history of the European Union more divisiveness – since the fifties we were struggling in the defense field.”

Germany and France have pushed toward common military structures, joint headquarters and shared assets among the European Union member states to become less reliant on the U.S. (RELATED: Here’s Germany’s Plan For The European Defense Union)

Mogherini stressed NATO’s importance for the EU and said the new setup “is not a European army.”

British Defense Minister Michael Fallon ensured the U.K. will veto any plans to undermine the role of NATO while it remains a part of the EU.

“We have resisted any mission creep,” Fallon told Reuters. “The danger is duplication (with NATO).”

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