WORLD> Europe
French FM calls for stronger EU defense capabilities
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-07 23:27

PARIS  -- The European Union (EU) needs a stronger defense system of its own, with more helicopters, transport aircraft and space-based surveillance, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said here Monday.

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The EU must become strong enough over the next ten years to simultaneously conduct two long-term peacekeeping missions, Kouchner told a seminar on boosting relations between the EU and NATO.

The minister, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, also urged the 27-nation bloc to build its abilities to safeguard its seas.

France has long been the driving force for a stronger EU defense, including the development of cross-border troop training among EU nations, despite concerns from some member states that a stronger European defense could clash or overlap with NATO.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy insists that EU's own defense plans would not compete with NATO.

The president claims that France could rejoin NATO under certain conditions, which include maintaining its right to decide whether to send troops to a NATO operation.

Former French President Charles de Gaulle withdrew France from NATO in 1966 in an effort to reassert France's military independence.