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European countries to formalise EU defence force plan
 by Staff Writers
 Paris (AFP) June 25, 2018

Ahead of NATO summit, Trump urges Canada to up defense spending
Montreal (AFP) June 23, 2018 - Ahead of next month's NATO summit, US President Donald Trump has once again called upon Canada and other members of the North Atlantic alliance to increase their defense spending.

In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dated June 19, the US president said there is "growing frustration in the US that key Allies like Canada have not stepped up defense spending as promised."

The text was made public by the website iPolitics, with a spokesman for the prime minister confirming its existence to AFP Saturday.

For Trump, the fact that Canada's defense spending represents less than two percent of GDP "undermines the security of the alliance," and "provides validation for other allies that also are not meeting their defense spending commitments."

Canada's defense spending was 1.3 percent of GDP in 2017, according to NATO.

In 2014, members of the treaty pledged to allocate two percent of GDP to defense. The US president, who has often lamented several member states' level of military spending, reiterated that he would demand that this commitment be honored at the NATO summit in Brussels on 11 and 12 July.

"It will become increasingly difficult to justify to American citizens why some countries continue to fail to meet our shared collective security commitments," he wrote.

A spokesperson for Canadian defense minister Harjit Sajjan said Saturday that the government committed in 2017 to increase military spending by 70 percent over 10 years -- and added that "Canada's participation in NATO operations around the world is a tangible signal of our commitment to the trans-Atlantic Alliance."

The letter comes amid tensions between Canada and the US, after the imposition of US tariffs on steel and aluminum -- and Trump's branding of Trudeau as "dishonest" and "weak" after the G7 summit.

Nine EU nations will on Monday formalise a plan to create a European military intervention force, a French minister said, with Britain backing the measure as a way to maintain strong defence ties with the bloc after Brexit.

The force, known as the European Intervention Initiative and championed by French President Emmanuel Macron, is intended to be able to deploy rapidly to deal with crises.

A letter of intent is due to be signed in Luxembourg on Monday by France, Germany, Belgium, Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Estonia, Spain and Portugal, French defence minister Florence Parly told the newspaper Le Figaro.

The initiative involves "joint planning work on crisis scenarios that could potentially threaten European security", according to a source close to the minister, including natural disasters, intervention in a crisis or evacuation of nationals.

It would be separate from other EU defence cooperation, meaning there would be no obstacle to Britain taking part after it leaves the bloc.

"This is clearly an initiative that allows the association of some non-EU states," the French minister said.

"The UK has been very keen because it wants to maintain cooperation with Europe beyond bilateral ties."

Twenty-five EU countries signed a major defence pact in December, agreeing to cooperate on various military projects, but it is not clear whether Britain would be allowed to take part in any of them after it leaves the bloc.

The EU has had four multinational military "battlegroups" since 2007, but political disagreements have meant the troops have never been deployed.

Paris hopes that by focusing on a smaller group of countries, its new initiative will be able to act more decisively, freed from the burdens that sometimes hamper action by the 28-member EU and 29-member NATO.

Italy had originally shown interest in the proposal. The new government in Rome "is considering the possibility of joining" but has not made a final decision, Parly said.


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Germany, France and eurozone reform ideas
 Berlin (AFP) June 19, 2018
 France's President Emmanuel Macron and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel are battling to thrash out a common position on EU reforms ahead of a crunch end-June summit that could determine the future of the bloc. While there is large agreement on the questions of immigration and defence, the two are still at odds over eurozone issues. Here's an outline of the various reform proposals for a post-Brexit Europe. - Migration - A record influx of migrants, many fleeing war in Syria and Iraq, ... read more
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