What is the Future of EU Defense (ft. UEF)

The European Union has a mix of 30 kinds of tanks, 20 types of planes, and 27 different military offices. The U.S., on the other hand, has just one military headquarters and fewer kinds of tanks and planes. If European countries shared their military resources and worked together more, they might be stronger within NATO and less reliant on the U.S. So, the big question is: Should the EU team up for its own defense and foreign policies, maybe even start a European army? Or should it just stick to working within NATO?

✅ Video contributor and sponsor
Union of European Federalists - UEF (UEF activities are co-funded by European Union)
The UEF is a supranational, non-governmental political organization who are committed to the struggle for a European Federation endowed with supranational institutions with limited but real sovereign powers.
☝ Vincenzo Camporini, Italian General & Former Chief of Defense

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[Kaslor]

"Why are the Germans only terrible at war when they are on our side" - that's honestly hilarious.

[jaro]

Can I just say, I love all my European brothers and I hope we'll grow strong together! We need to work together. 🇧🇪🇪🇺

[SuperTommox]

We absolutely need a EU army. We can't expect other people to fight for us.

[absolutezeronow]

As an American and someone who believes in the vision of the EU, I definitely agree that the EU should become more independent of the US especially given how toxic our domestic politics are. Hopefully EU stands strong against Russian aggression even if my country again makes the mistake of going isolationist.

[Blabla-odvt]

I agree with your opinion. The US is unreliable, but so is the EU with its principle of unanimity and the apparant lack of common geostrategic goals or the capability of putting them into action.

[michalipiperakis]

I love Europe!!! Love from Greece! GO EU and thank you to our US buddies! :)

[IMGreg..]

Trump and Ukraine are exactly why Europe shouldn't depend on consistency from the US for its defense.
It should match US global capabilities and unify organization.

Don't exclude Canada, we can be Europe's energy and resource supplier.

[Alpha]

Great video.

The thing that I think a lot of us need to internalize is that while America is our ally, they are an ALLY. They are not US. And sometimes we have very divergent interests.

I'm all for Europe continuing to work together with the United States as part of NATO. But we also need to be able to defend ourselves and stand up for our interests. And the U.S. would prefer we are entirely dependent on NATO and them because that is just to their benefit. But not to our benefit.

[apb]

My choice is EU european army part of NATO.
THE EU army will make NATO even stronger the two things work very well together, the EU army will be the second best army in the world after the US.

[albevanhanoy]

Absolutely stunning video! I strongly agree with all your arguments.
A true common defense policy, deeper cooperation and integration of our armed forces and enhancement of our military industry are vital to preserve the sovereignty of Europe.
The USA have proven they are no longer a trustworthy ally, and Russia has proven they are actually hostile.
Thank you for your amazing work. This video deserves millions of views.

[AtakenSmith]

US: "Spend more on defense! NO NO! don't make an army...!" xD

[p.serrano]

As a Portuguese and European, this week I was happy that the EU took decisions to regulate platforms and social networks on the internet for all EU countries. More than power, this shows unity, fraternity, concern, teamwork and a sense of state. This is the Europe I want. A Europe capable of protecting itself and creating mechanisms to have a joint military force that allows, above all, to show unity, strength and equally guarantee the safety of all of us.

[dexocon]

With Austria and Hungary, an european army could be a major risk. They would give Russia all informations on a plate..

[ludovic]

The USA makes choices that are not ours. Time to stand on own legs and say good bye to US foreign policy.

[angriboi]

As a German, I would strongly prefer a european defense, than an american-dominated NATO one, as it has been clear for years or even decades, that American geopolitical interests are completely different, than those of european countries. Europe is nothing but a buffer zone for the US. Europe has to become more independent from Washington.

[parmentier]

The Dutch army has been integrated with the armies in neighboring countries for decades. There may also be other European countries that do this. The reason why the Netherlands cooperates with Germany in particular is because in the 1990s they made major cuts to the military. To save costs, they opted for more cooperation.

- The United Kingdom-Netherlands Amphibious Force (UKNLAF), the collaboration between the Royal Marines of the United Kingdom and the Dutch Korps Mariniers. This integrated partnership has existed since 1973 and both armies train intensively together, use the same equipment such as wapons and all-terrain vehicles, the same landing craft, communications equipment and winter equipment, etc. And study each other's doctorates. The UKNLAF consists of 1, 000 British and Dutch Marines.

- 1st German-Netherlands Corps (1GNC) is a multinational formation consisting of units from both the Royal Netherlands Army and German Army since 1995. It is situated in Münster (North Rhine Westphalia), formerly the headquarters of the German Army's I. Corps out of which 1 German-Netherlands Corps evolved. The corps has national and multinational operational responsibilities. This army consists of 1, 000 men at headquarters and up to 60, 000 German and Dutch soldiers.

- The 414 Tank Battalion. A German-Dutch tank unit of Leopard 2 tanks. The battalion consists of approximately 350 German and 100 Dutch soldiers. The battalion is stationed in Lohheide near Bergen in the German state of Lower Saxony. The tank battalion is under German command.,

- Admiral Benelux (ABNL) is a combined naval fleet of the Netherlands and Belgium based in Den Helder, Netherlands, since 1948. The ABNL is responsible for the combined operations of the Dutch and Belgian navies and can be charged with responsibility for the operational readiness and deployment of the combined fleets in joint operations, both during war and peacetime operations. The ABNL is primarily responsible for the efficient deployment of joint equipment and personnel and oversees the joint training programs of both navies. Both Dutch and Belgian sailors follow the same naval training and since 2022 both navies have worn the same new naval uniforms. Both navies have now jointly ordered frigrates and other ships.

- Belgium and the Netherlands have jointly monitored the airspace of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg since January 1, 2017. They use fighter aircraft to protect the Benelux countries against civil and military aircraft that pose a threat. Currently, the Royal Netherlands Air Force has 30 F35s in their fleet. Now that the Belgians have also opted for the F35 to replace their F16s, the Dutch and Belgian air forces can integrate even better with each other.

- The German army has access to Dutch naval vessels such as the HNLMS Karel Doorman and can use them whenever they want. What the German Navy lacks is a large multi-functional support ship for amphibious operations. The Royal Netherlands Navy has three of these large ships for transporting tanks, helicopters or large troop movements.

- The Dutch light brigade and the Belgian medium brigade have been working intensively together since 2012. Here too, they train and practice together in the Benelux training center. The goal: to increase the output of operational capacity and military effectiveness by bringing the armed forces closer together. The unit consists of 6, 000 Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourgish soldiers.

I assume there are more European collaborations between militaries. A single EU army would be difficult to create, I think EU armies would work better together with countries that understand each other's cultures.

[ComeInvestWithMe]

We need stronger borders, I hope Frontex gets more funding and I hope we can remove the 1.5M illegal immigrants currently within the EU

[Adam-]

More countries, namely those in Europe, Israel, Japan and South Korea should work on becoming more independent from the United States and more capable of handling their own affairs.

[GnosticAtheist]

As a Norwegian, Im all good with NATO, but considering the issues with that funny orange man, if he wins again, we might have to consider the Union if they made an army. But without an army the EU is pretty irrelevant here, as we would just be a natural resource piggybank without getting security in return.

[sciamachy]

Woooo, Camporini out of the blue? gg, content is really going up with quality