"We have to speed up our political decision making," he said, noting that the bloc already established battle groups of 1,500 people each in 2007 but had never deployed them. Standing alongside Borrell, Slovenian Defense Minister Matej Tonin, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, acknowledged that the lack of a new rapid response force isn't the only hurdle to being what he called a "credible peace provider."
"This would have helped us to provide a security perimeter for the evacuation of EU citizens in Kabul" after the US departure, Borrell noted at the press conference on Thursday.Ĭhaotic airlift brings some Afghans to safety The idea getting the most attention is what's being called an "initial entry force" of approximately 5,000 personnel, not an entirely new concept for Europe but one leaders now can see would have been extremely useful in recent days. Until now, EU governments' differences have outweighed their discontent about this status quo, but the feeling of shame and frustration over Afghanistan has reignited the desire for more self-sufficiency. "As a global economic and democratic power, can Europe be content with a situation where we are unable to ensure unassisted the evacuation of our citizens and those under threat because they have helped us?" New force, same as the old force? In particular among the most recent developments, US President Joe Biden's rejection of a European call to keep Kabul's airport open past August 31 to enable more evacuations has left a bitter taste in European mouths.Įuropean Council President Charles Michel has weighed in as well, speaking Wednesday at the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia. Borrell is due to deliver an updated EU military strategy in the coming months
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