MOSCOW, December 26. /TASS/. Creating a European Union army is an impossible dream, member states can only establish a joint General staff to plan and control military operations, Russian Ambassador to NATO Alexander Grushko said on Monday.
"Creating a European army is an impossible dream," he said. "The best they can do is establish some kind of a joint General staff consisting of military and civilian personnel that would plan and control all the military operations that involve the European Union. This is what the EU agencies have been contemplating," Grushko added.
Crushko also said that this was not the first attempt to create an EU army. "All previous attempts produced poor results," he said.
When speaking about the obstacles preventing the creation of an EU army, Grushko pointed to economic reasons. "They would have to unify their defense industries and set up some mechanisms so that their defense companies could cooperate," he noted. "But we know that weapons manufacturing is a highly competitive sphere."
Russia and the Baltic
Speculations about the risk of a Russian aggression against the Baltic countries are beyond any reasonable bounds, Russia’s envoy to NATO has said:
"Any suspicions we may be harboring some aggressive designs against the Baltic countries break all reasonable bounds."
Grushko said that NATO was going ahead with its military build-up and considering the possibility of sending troops there on a permanent, not rotational basis.
"As a result we find ourselves amid a logic that runs counter to the fundamental interests of all countries, including the Baltic ones," Grushko said. "Regrettably, in a situation like this no diplomatic or political methods will work. This is an unreal world," he added.
"Regrettably, in the US propaganda field we see a very deplorable trend. Every single problem tends to be blamed on Russia," Grushko noted.
Prospects of European security system without Russia
The North Atlantic Alliance will realize, sooner or later, that attempts to build a security system without Russia are reckless, Alexander Grushko said.
"The danger is that, since NATO has proved it is unable to adapt to the new security situation and, taking into account the sad experience of NATO’s actions, the big ‘threat from the east’ is currently the solidarity driver," the diplomat said. "However, I am confident that sooner or later there will be an understanding of the fact that attempts to build security against Russia or without Russia are reckless."
According to Grushko, many politicians currently say that the West needs to begin to "take a realistic approach towards what architecture of the European, Eurasian and Euro-Atlantic security meets countries’ real needs." "This also includes the countries’ real ability to team up in the fight against common challenges and threats," Grushko said.