Latest news with #RobertBrieger
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Europe on its own? EU Military chief's chilling warning: ‘Gear up or face crisis alone'
Gen. Robert Brieger, the former head of the Austrian Armed Forces, is set to be replaced by Irish Lt. Gen. Seán Clancy for the next three-year term. That will keep a neutral-country general in the EU's four-star military post, even at a time when much of European leadership is focused on the threat posed by Russia and the EU has backed efforts to rebuild military might on the continent. Brieger reiterated the need for cooperation with the NATO alliance, but warned that the United States' shifting focus toward the Indo-Pacific region means Europe needs to do more for its own defence. Show more Show less
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
'European military forces not fit for...': EU military chief drops bombshell amid Ukraine War
Gen. Robert Brieger, the former head of the Austrian Armed Forces, is set to be replaced by Irish Lt. Gen. Seán Clancy for the next three-year term. That will keep a neutral-country general in the EU's four-star military post, even at a time when much of European leadership is focused on the threat posed by Russia and the EU has backed efforts to rebuild military might on the continent. Brieger reiterated the need for cooperation with the NATO alliance, but warned that the United States' shifting focus toward the Indo-Paific region means Europe needs to do more for its own defence. Show more Show less
Euronews
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
Brussels looking to beef up the EU's collective defence clause
The EU's highest military body is looking into strengthening the bloc's mutual defence clause with a view of boosting interoperability and military mobility among European armed forces as the US increasingly looks to the Asia-Pacific. Austrian General Robert Brieger stressed on Thursday following a gathering of the European Union Military Committee, which he chairs, that the EU needs a "clear holistic approach" when it comes to defence and that Chiefs of Defence taking part in the meeting had issued "recommendations for the operationalisation of Article 42.7". Article 42.7 is the EU's mutual defence clause, in force since 2009, which provides that "if an EU country is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other EU countries have an obligation to aid and assist it by all means in their power". It was triggered once following the terrorist attack in Paris on November 13, 2015, but is generally seen as weaker than the collective defence clause in NATO, which was created some six decades earlier. That's in part because it stipulates that "commitments and cooperation in this area shall be consistent with commitments under the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, which, for those States which are members of it, remains the foundation of their collective defence and the forum for its implementation". Some 23 of the EU's 27 members also belong to NATO. The reason for the potential revamp, General Brieger told reporters, is "that we found out that the concentration of European Union security and defence posture to international crisis management is not enough for the time being and it's not fit for the future". "So we need to clarify the role of European armed forces within the territorial defence of the continent. There is a clear need for close cooperation with NATO and for sure collective defence will rest in the hands of the Atlantic alliance but we know that the US is shifting their interest to the Indo-Pacific and there is a clear need to do more on European soil and by European member states." "And therefore we advise the politicians to think about a more concrete definition of Article 42.7: What is the concrete role? What could be the best delineation with the tasks of NATO?" he added. Examples he provided included improving military mobility across Europe and boosting the protection of critical infrastructure. "The advantage of the European Union institutions is for sure that the European Union is capable of acting in all fields of politics, economy, security and military. So we have more tools than NATO and we try to find the best way to complement each other," he added. Military mobility was identified as a priority in the White Paper on the Future of European Defence that was released in March by the European Commission and that set out the bloc's strategy to reduce military dependencies on third countries and boost the deployment of military equipment across member states. Other priorities include air and missile defence, artillery systems, ammunition and missiles, drones and counter-drone systems, AI, Quantum, cyber and electronic warfare and strategic enablers. The EU executive, which hopes that up to €800 billion euros could be invested in defence over the next four years in the bloc, is urging member states to pool orders to reduce costs and increase interoperability. It plans to loan up to €150 billion it will raise on the market to member states who do so, provided they buy European and focus on priority capabilities. Member states are expected to conclude negotiations on this €150 billion instrument by the end of the month which could mean some of the money starts being disbursed at the very end of the year. Leaders are also expected to approve common European flagship projects at their summit in June. The gathering in Brussels will immediately follow a meeting of NATO leaders in the Hague where the Alliance is set to announce a new defence spending target. "Europe is at a crossroads. The threats we face are real, complex, and interconnected," said General Brieger, who will step down from his role in two weeks. "Responding to them requires more than declarations. It requires political will, unity, and the means to act. A strong Europe must be a secure Europe. Moreover, a secure Europe must take its defence and its global role seriously."
Fox News
27-01-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
EU military chief says it would make sense to put European troops in Greenland, Welt reports
The top European Union military official, Robert Brieger, said it would make sense to station troops from EU countries in Greenland, according to an interview with Germany's Welt am Sonntag published on Saturday, as U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed interest in acquiring the Danish territory. "In my view, it would make perfect sense not only to station U.S. forces in Greenland, as has been the case to date, but also to consider stationing EU soldiers there in the future," the chairman of the European Union Military Committee said. Ultimately, such a step would require a political decision, the Austrian-born general said. The military committee is the highest military office of the European Council, but it serves as a consultative body since the bloc has no dedicated army. U.S.-led NATO is the main military alliance for the EU. Although Greenland is not part of the EU as an overseas territory of Denmark, Europeans, as well as the U.S. have interests in Greenland, the general added, citing its raw materials and strategic location. "However, with increasing ice melt as a result of climate change, this also creates a certain potential for tension with Russia and possibly China," he said. Trump has expressed an interest in making Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, part of the United States. He has not ruled out using military or economic power to persuade Denmark to hand it over. Greenland's strategic location along the shortest route from Europe to North America, vital for the U.S. ballistic missile warning system, has made it a priority for Trump. Brieger said he hoped that the U.S. as a member of the United Nations would respect the inviolability of borders as stipulated in the U.N. Charter.
