Under a new initiative to expand the EU’s alliance-wide military force, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Portugal, and Slovenia will establish a rapid-reaction force, aimed to act within EU territory.
Some in the EU have been very interested in the idea of building up a military, though the existing battle groups are fairly small. Restricting these additional troops to the EU territory likely is meant to avoid public criticism of the plan.
The nations that decided to get involved said that the recent war in Afghanistan led to the decision, convincing them that the EU needs to be able to react quickly with special forces.
German officials expressed optimism on the idea. Opposition figures, however, said that the EU is meant to be a civilian alliance, and doesn’t need to create a new intervention force.
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