International studies, Vol. I No. 1, 2000.
Professional paper
The Role of German-French Relations in the Shaping of "Europe of Defence" in the 21st Century
Jelena Radić
; Internal Affairs Ministry, Republic of Croatia
Abstract
The main objective of the institutionalised and legally binding German-French relationship in the 21 st century is to establish their role of the "European integration motor" in the field of defence and security, which is the fundamental precondition for the announced transformation of the EU into the "Europe of defence". The post-cold war conflicts in the EU immediate neighbourhood, forced the two countries to conclude that without own European defence and security capacities, not only that the EU cannot ensure its stability and security, but also cannot play a significant role on the international political scene. The two countries reached a compromise on the US role in Europe, but winning over the UK in support of "European" defence and security initiatives, opened the door to the creation of European defence and security integration. It is essential that Germany, the change of whose defence and security policies in the past decade enabled it to equally participate in out of area actions, professionalise its armed forces in order to participate in solving new kinds of crises in Europe and help that the decision on the establishment of European intervention forces be realised. Only in this way can German-French relationship affirm their crucial role in strengthening the EU with its transformation into "Europe of defence", which would also enable the realisation of new post--cold war interests of both states, which concentrates on resisting the superficially uni-polar global system with the US domination.
Keywords
Germany; France; defense; security
Hrčak ID:
286373
URI
Publication date:
15.12.2000.
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