'Direct assault on sovereignty'? EU resolution forces members to beef up security

The European Parliament has voted through a resolution calling for national militaries to ramp up their might. The EU believes economic downfall must not become a pretext to give up defense and security efforts.

MEPs in Brussels have approved a resolution saying the EU must respond to growing geostrategic changes and threats to global security and make full use of all existing means, including military, to secure peace and security for its citizens.This means a new EU operational headquarters is in the cards, and that Brussels will have the authority to jump into different crises, including what it calls “high intensity conflicts” – otherwise known as wars.It is a question of business as well. European MPs stressed that building up Europe’s capabilities would save and even create jobs, pumping more investment into the military industry. Not all EU member states are going to be jumping for joy over the plans. The more ambitious EU common security and defense policy could leave Britain between a rock and a hard place. The UK could end up getting dragged into military campaigns that it has no interest in joining.MEP David Campbell Bannerman from the UK Conservative Party voted against the move and slammed the move. Bannerman told RT that Brussels is encroaching on the sovereignty of its members, with Britain relinquishing control of its own defense and security decisions.“It really does trespass into national responsibilities for defense,” Bannerman said. “And it’s talking about the EU looking after its citizens. It is a direct assault on sovereignty as I see it.”Bannerman believes the move is really is about politics, rather than defense. “This is about actually furthering the course of one united state in Europe, because they want a single army, a single defense industry, because this is part of their foreign policy.”“They want to get involved in high-intensity conflicts, in their terminology, and that means war in my terminology,” he explained. “They want actually for the EU to be involved in wars and commit our soldiers and our navy people in these kinds of conflicts – and that is not acceptable.”