Italian Foreign Minister Proposes EU Army

The Trumpet (Link) (November 16, 2009)

Europe needs to create a common army now that the Lisbon Treaty has been ratified, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in an interview with the Times.

It is a �necessary objective to have a European army,� said Frattini. �Europe could deploy a joint naval fleet or air force in the Mediterranean: Why not?� he said. �We could say, look, one group of nations is ready at once, and leave the door open for others to join, as with the euro.� He said that the Lisbon Treaty allows �that if some countries want to enter into reinforced cooperation between themselves they can do so.�

�Take Afghanistan,� he said. �At present President Obama asks Poland, or Italy, or Great Britain for more troops. If there were a European army, he would have a �toolbox� to draw from. He might need 30 airplanes: He would be able to ask if the European army was in a position to provide them.�

At the moment, Frattini said, �every country duplicates its forces, each of us puts armored cars, men, tanks, planes, into Afghanistan. If there were a European army, Italy could send planes, France could send tanks, Britain could send armored cars, and in this way we would optimize the use of our resources. Perhaps we won�t get there immediately, but that is the idea of a European army.�

Afghanistan, said Frattini, has shown that Europe�s armies can work together. �There are no problems in current crisis areas. We work well together in Afghanistan. In the province of Herat, we Italians work with the Spanish. Why not form a common force? This would also bring economic benefits, because the countries involved would share the costs of military engagement overseas.�

Europe needs to become more unified in its overall policy, he said. �If we do not find a common foreign policy,� he warned, �there is the risk that Europe will become irrelevant. We will be bypassed by the G-2 of America and China �. We need political will and commitment, otherwise the people of Europe will be disillusioned and disappointed. People expect a great deal of us.�

Frattini is by no means the first European leader to call for a common EU army. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and even British Defense Secretary John Hutton have all called for the creation of some kind of pan-European army. But with the Lisbon Treaty coming into force in December, a European army could become a reality very soon.

Herbert W. Armstrong, the founder of the Trumpet�s predecessor, the Plain Truth, predicted, based on Bible prophecy, that European nations would combine their militaries into one large force. �Ten powerful European nations will combine their forces. It will be a gigantic, powerful empire! It will field the combined armies of 10 nations,� he wrote in 1953 (Good News, May 1953). This prophecy is nearing fulfillment, as the Italian foreign minister�s statements indicate. For more details on what God prophesied for Europe through Mr. Armstrong, read our article �Is a World Dictator About to Appear?�