Britain's Defence Secretary John Hutton (right) shakes hands with an Afghan general at the defence ministry in Kabul October 22. Hutton expressed support for French plans to strengthen European defence capacity, saying: "If we can support it, we should" in an interview published Sunday. (AFP/File/Massoud Hossaini)British Defence Secretary Backs French EU Military Plans
-- Yahoo News/AFP
-- Yahoo News/AFP
LONDON, (AFP) – Britain's new Defence Secretary John Hutton expressed support for French plans to strengthen European defence capacity, saying: "If we can support it, we should" in an interview published Sunday.
Hutton, who only got the job following a reshuffle of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Cabinet this month, said it was "perfectly sensible" to work with European Union allies on such issues.
He went on to describe "EU haters" as "pathetic" in an interview with The Sunday Times newspaper.
France, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, wants to ensure that Europe can stand alone militarily if it needs to. The aim is to be able to deploy 60,000 troops with air and naval support within 60 days by 2018.
But one of its main goals -- the establishment of a real EU military headquarters in Brussels -- has been blocked by Britain, which is keen not to double up on work being done by the NATO military alliance.
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My Comment: Proponents for an EU plan have trouble explaining how this will differ from NATO. As far as I am concerned, this is only a duplication of bureaucracy and a way to satisfy French participation. If implemented, in the event of an emergency, I am sure confusion will reign because both NATO and this proposed EU organization will state that they have first dibs on any military force projection.