LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Autumn 2008

by Milos Koterec

RELATED ARTICLES:

---

Sir,

I could not agree with the headline on Henri Bentégeat’s article suggesting that today’s European Security and Defense Policy is still just theoretical. Since its inception, the European Union has done its utmost to promote the ESDP as a practical tool to underpin the EU’s ambition to create a common foreign and security policy. I subscribe to the view that ESDP and NATO activities must be complementary: to me this is obvious and anything else would be simply irrational. However, I also recognise that it can be difficult to understand the friction and discrepancies between the two institutions, especially at a strategic level.

Clearly, politics is part of the problem. Any insider from either the North Atlantic Council or the European Council will tell you how difficult it can be to achieve political consensus. Yet negotiations lead participants to accept each others’ views or compromise over a political argument. When it comes to financial solidarity, however, things get more complicated. Then commitments have to become tangible and, where money is concerned, political promises are scrutinized more closely and viewed through a much narrower lens.

This still begs a question about where responsibility lies for the continuing difficulties of poor coordination and awkward cooperation between NATO and the EU. Is it down to schizophrenia among the 21 countries that are part of both organisations? Or is it due to the different strategic interests of states that only belong to one? I definitely support the latter explanation and therefore believe that the solution should be sought in national capitals rather than Brussels.

While all of the above-mentioned factors can be considered as significant brakes on the ESDP, I believe that solving the financial issue is certainly one key to speeding up implementation. Some member states have deep pockets, others’ are half empty. And if NATO members ought to assign 2% of GDP to their defense budgets in order to fund their Alliance capabilities adequately, how much more will be needed to meet the additional costs of ESDP and UN military operations? I believe we should recognise the wide spectrum of our common security strategy and, at the very least, coordinate policies within NATO, the EU and the UN. No doubt, this will mean financial adjustments. If we cannot achieve that, then we should search for alternative solutions. We should not simply bite off more than we can chew.