EU countries will test the common defense of the Union, without the participation of the United States. “War game” scheduled in Brussels
The European Union is preparing to test the mutual assistance clause in the form of a simulation, a “war game”, amid uncertainties about the commitment of the United States to Europe, an EU official announced on Friday, quoted by AFP.
Europeans, worried about US President Donald Trump's recent threats to withdraw from NATO, are trying to strengthen their collective defense.
They were encouraged to do so by Iranian drone strikes in Cyprus, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU Council.
The aim is to carry out “a practical exercise”, at the beginning in May, at the level of the ambassadors of the 27 states in Brussels, before another exercise, this time at the level of ministers, explained the source quoted by AFP, under the cover of anonymity.
The scenario of a hybrid attack on the EU
One of the possible scenarios would be that of a major hybrid attack against the EU, the diplomatic source indicated.
The mutual assistance clause between member countries, provided for in Article 42-7 of the EU Treaty, states that if a country of the Union were “the target of an armed aggression on its territory, the other member states must provide help and support by all the means at their disposal”.
Article 42-7 was invoked only once, by France, during the 2015 Islamist attacks, but the obligations and consequences of triggering the article are vague.
“What we will do is examine and review the practicalities: how does it work? what can we do,” the European official said.
During the Munich Conference in February, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, asked member countries to give life to their own mutual defense clause without duplicating NATO, whose Article 5 provides for a mutual defense clause.
Of the EU member states, 23 are also NATO members and do not want to encourage the United States to withdraw from the alliance. “Article 42-7 is not a mutual defense clause. It is a mutual assistance clause,” the NATO official stressed.
