You And Whose Army?

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From top: Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron arive for the signing of a new Franco-German ‘friendship treaty’ in Aachen, Germany yesterday; a Eurobarometer poll from 2017

Given that many feel the agreement in Aachen is a step towards an EU army, do countries actually support such a concept?

The most recent Eurobarometer poll on the subject was conducted in 2017 with 74 percent of respondents in the Netherlands and Belgium supporting an EU army. In France and Germany, the share of in favor stood at 65 and 55 percent respectively.

Elsewhere in the EU’s neutral countries, support was 45 percent in Austria, 46 percent in Ireland, 42 percent in Finland, 55 percent in Malta and just 40 percent in Sweden.

After Historic Franco-German Treaty, How High Is Support For An EU Army? (Niall McCarthy, Forbes)

Where Support Is Highest For An EU Army (Niall McCarthy, Statista)

Otis Blue writes:

So 46% of Irish people support an EU army?


Neutrality! Fight!

Monday: Mission Creep

Pic: Getty

Graph: Statista

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Perhaps Irish Neutrality Is A Sham, But Shouldn’t We At Least Discuss This Issue? Mission Creep

18 thoughts on “You And Whose Army?”

    1. Slightly Bemused

      While I know the situation is vastly different. I would recommend reading the book Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy (of Hunt for Red October fame). Written about the same time as Hunt, it examines the possibility of a major conventional war between two nuclear powers. While those are the Soviet Union and NATO, and thus not reflecting modern situations, it is intriguing nonetheless.

      Admittedly this was before Clancy went all hugely nationalist…. Sorry, ‘patriotic’!

  3. max

    If 27 countries agree on a cause it’s probably a worthy one, though the number of army deafness claims would sky rocket if we joined the EU Army

  5. Jake38

    Ireland is not neutral, Ireland is defenceless. And our previous defenders are off Brexiting. So, we need some friends.
    Simple.

  6. Eoin

    Shocking that 46% of 1,000 randomly selected Irish people would support the creation of an EU army.

    But it’s still less than 50% so the government has no right chipping away at our neutrality at every conceivable opportunity.

    Also shocking that not a single EU country has support for an EU army that’s less than 39% (UK). Just tells you people aren’t being informed about the ramifications of an EU army (start with 2% of GDP being spent on defence which in Ireland’s case is around €5 billion, 5x what we spend now).

    2. SOQ

      The Americans are getting pee’ed off protecting Europe so what else is there to do? They are also getting pee’ed off with their own corporations reaping the rewards while dodging tax, but that is another story.

      My feminine intuition says this is the real reason for Brexit. Britain has a huge military based manufacturing economy and this would clip their wings as to who they could sell to.

  7. Termagant

    There is a large group of people in this country who see the EU as benevolent overlords with only our best interests at heart. Sure didn’t they build a load of roads and things?

    1. SOQ

      There is no other structure in the world like the EU. 27 countries who collectively make decisions on everything from labour laws to data protection to the environment. There was also money available to upgrade the water network but roads were more sexy. That is our fault not theirs.

    1. bisted

      …our chums haven’t come to the rescue so far when naughty military aircraft have infiltrated our airspace…some are even landing…but I’m assured that the locals are putting up a brave defence armed only with bottles…

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