Norway snubs Juncker as PM pledges full support for Nato over EU army
ERNA SOLBERG has snubbed Jean-Claude Juncker’s dream of creating an EU army as the Norwegian prime minister pledged her country's full support to Nato.
Norwegian MP on relationship with NATO as non-member of EU
The Conservative Party leader hit out against the bloc’s ploy to create an alliance to rival Nato, as she told a press conference Norway did not want to answer to the European Union in another arena.
Mrs Solberg said: “For Norway as a non-member of the EU, it is important that Nato remains the main place for conversations about security policies.
“We have chosen to stand on the outside of the EU, despite participating in European security work, so it is natural for Norway to want Nato to be the main organisation for security which involves Norway as long as we don’t have EU membership.
“That is why we have always underlined that we want Nato to be the main body for that [work].”
Erna Solberg said Nato had Norway’s full support
Mrs Solberg added such an alliance within the EU would create another arena where Norway would be on the back foot, despite being a member of Nato.
She said: “An EU that comes to Nato already negotiated creates a more difficult Nato for [Norway] because it will be more difficult to have influence.
“Then we will have another arena where we have to lobby the EU [to impact decisions], [in a place] where we already have an equal membership but where the debate is already done.”
It comes as a senior German official insisted the European Union will inevitably launch its own army.
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It's important that Nato remains the main place for conversations about security policies
Hans-Peter Bartels, Germany’s national defence commissioner welcomed the single European force because the bloc is “currently disorganised”.
Mr Bartels told the Telegraph: “We are currently disorganised, technically fragmented and duplicate structures unnecessarily.
“We do not want to go down the solitary national path anymore. Not in Germany, not in the Netherlands, not in the Czech Republic and not in Italy.”
He added: “In the end, there will be a European army.”
Mr Juncker, President of the European Commission has continuously expressed his support for the creation of an EU army.
Taking a swipe at President Donald Trump, Mr Juncker said the United States is “no longer interested in guaranteeing Europe’s security in our place”.
He added during a conference in Prague: “Our defence to NATO can no longer be used as a convenient alibi to argue against greater European efforts.
“We have no other choice than to defend our own interests in the Middle East, in climate change, in our trade agreements.”