German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday backed French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in his call for a European army — a move that President Trump has called “insulting” as he urged the countries to fulfill their NATO commitments instead.
Merkel told lawmakers in the E.U. Parliament in Strasbourg that “we have to work on the vision of one day creating a real European army.” She clarified the such a force would not mean the end of NATO, and also called for the creation of a European security council.
The remarks were met with a mix of boos and cheers from lawmakers, with some British representatives crying “Rubbish! Rubbish!”
Merkel made the remarks after the idea was floated by Macron last week, when he said that Europe was “the main victim of Trump’s decision to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia.
“We will not protect the Europeans unless we decide to have a true European army,” Macron said, according to The Wall Street Journal. He also grouped in the U.S. with the countries from which France needed protection. – READ MORE