European security

France: A European army would help — not threaten — US troops

French President Emmanuel Macron’s idea of building a “true, European army” should “never be seen as a move against the United States,” France’s top military leader said this week.

A European army would help the Pentagon better allocate troops, equipment and funding at a time when multiple theaters of operation pose a threat to the U.S. and its allies, French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said at the Atlantic Council Monday.

“Autonomy should be a variation on friendship and European autonomy should not become a cause for the U.S. to be less engaged,” Parly said. “Quite the contrary: The U.S. and Europehave more in common than anyone else. ... We fight the same wars.”

“We share the same values, we are faced with the same threats, from terror to the resurgence of 19th century-style power politics — China and Russia, and the like.”

Parly’s defense of the European army concept appears to be directed at President Donald Trump, who rebuked the idea in November.

“Emmanuel Macron suggests building its own army to protect Europe against the U.S., China and Russia. But it was Germany in World Wars [I and II],” Trump tweeted Nov. 13. “How did that work out for France? They were starting to learn German in Paris before the U.S. came along. Pay for NATO or not!”