By Ling Yunzhi

凌云志

The photo shows a joint exercise of Franco-German Brigade of the Eurocorps. 

歐洲軍團(tuán)法德旅舉行聯(lián)合演習(xí)。

It has long been a persistent goal for the EU to pursue autonomous defense. Despite its aspirations to develop an independent military force and achieve defense integration, tangible progress has remained elusive.

尋求自主防務(wù)是歐盟長(zhǎng)期以來一直孜孜不倦追求的目標(biāo)。雖然發(fā)展獨(dú)立的軍事力量、走防務(wù)一體化道路一直是歐盟的夢(mèng)想，但始終沒有取得實(shí)質(zhì)性進(jìn)展。

With the Trump administration taking office, US-Russia relations have shown signs of warming, leading to rising anxiety across Europe. Within weeks of his inauguration, Donald Trump repeatedly voiced opinions on the Russia-Ukraine conflict that were different from previous US stances. On February 12, Donald Trump said from the Oval Office that he does not "think it's practical" to have Ukraine join NATO. In addition, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remarked that European security is no longer a priority for the US. He emphasized that NATO's European members should shoulder greater financial responsibilities to ensure their own security, rather than relying indefinitely on America's protection.

隨著特朗普政府上臺(tái)，美俄關(guān)系趨向回暖，歐洲的焦慮感不斷上升。特朗普在上任后不到一個(gè)月，就多次公開表達(dá)對(duì)俄烏沖突的不同看法。2月12日，特朗普表示烏克蘭加入北約的計(jì)劃是“不切實(shí)際的”。此外，美國(guó)防部長(zhǎng)赫格塞思表示，歐洲安全已經(jīng)不是美國(guó)的優(yōu)先事項(xiàng)，北約的歐洲成員國(guó)應(yīng)承擔(dān)更多財(cái)政責(zé)任，以確保自身安全，不能一直指望美國(guó)的“保護(hù)傘”。

Faced with such a situation, Europe has become acutely aware of its critical weakness in defense capabilities and has recognized the severe consequences of lacking strategic autonomy while closely following the US lead. As a result, the urgency and demand for strategic independence have surged, further accelerating the process of establishing a European Army.

面對(duì)這樣的局面，歐洲已經(jīng)意識(shí)到自身防務(wù)力量不足的致命弱點(diǎn)，更清楚看到缺乏戰(zhàn)略自主、對(duì)美國(guó)亦步亦趨的嚴(yán)重后果，對(duì)戰(zhàn)略自主的需求和關(guān)切程度迅速提升，這些也將進(jìn)一步推動(dòng)歐洲組建“歐洲軍”的進(jìn)程。

However, the future of a European Army remains highly uncertain.

然而，“歐洲軍”的前景仍具有較大不確定性。

First, there is a lack of effective coordination mechanisms among European nations, making it difficult to achieve tangible results. Currently, divisions persist not only among the 27 EU member states but also between Eastern and Western Europe, and even between France and Germany, the two leading European powers, on the issue of defense integration. For example, at a recent emergency meeting in Paris, European nations were deeply divided over the issue of deploying peacekeeping troops to Ukraine. Apart from the UK, which expressed willingness to send troops, countries like France and Germany showed no intention of deploying forces to Ukraine at this stage. Without the support of France and Germany, it would be difficult to implement the formation of a joint European force.

首先，歐洲國(guó)家內(nèi)部之間缺乏有效協(xié)調(diào)機(jī)制，難以達(dá)成實(shí)質(zhì)性成果。目前，歐盟27個(gè)成員國(guó)之間、東西歐國(guó)家之間甚至法德兩個(gè)歐洲大國(guó)之間在防務(wù)一體化問題上均存在分歧。例如，在此次巴黎緊急會(huì)議上，歐洲在向?yàn)蹩颂m派遣維和部隊(duì)問題上出現(xiàn)較大分歧。除英國(guó)表示愿意派軍以外，法德等國(guó)均無意在現(xiàn)階段向?yàn)跖汕膊筷?duì)。如果沒有法國(guó)和德國(guó)的支持，歐洲組建聯(lián)合部隊(duì)將難以付諸實(shí)施。

Secondly, the US has a highly complex attitude toward the EU's efforts to strengthen its own defense cooperation. On one hand, Washington expects Europe to increase military spending, take on more responsibility for its own defense within the NATO framework, and ease the burden on the US as much as possible. On the other hand, the US remains deeply skeptical of Europe's current push for defense autonomy, fearing that an independent European army could weaken American influence on the continent, reshape the global strategic landscape, and potentially hinder Washington's broader geopolitical objectives.

其次，美國(guó)對(duì)于歐盟加強(qiáng)自身防務(wù)合作的心態(tài)非常復(fù)雜。一方面。美國(guó)希望歐洲增加軍費(fèi)投入，在北約框架下更多地承擔(dān)自身防務(wù)，盡最大可能地分擔(dān)美國(guó)的負(fù)擔(dān)。但另一方面，美國(guó)又對(duì)歐洲當(dāng)前的防務(wù)自主計(jì)劃疑慮重重，擔(dān)憂歐盟通過積極“建軍”、實(shí)現(xiàn)防務(wù)獨(dú)立后，會(huì)削弱美在歐洲的影響力，甚至?xí)淖兪澜绲膽?zhàn)略格局分布，影響其全球戰(zhàn)略的實(shí)施。

Finally, NATO remains a major obstacle that Europe cannot avoid in its pursuit of defense independence. NATO believes that Europe's push for military development outside of the alliance would lead to resource competition, create divisions, and challenge its leadership as the primary defense organization in Europe. Moreover, many smaller European countries, particularly those in the Baltic region, as well as Eastern European nations like Poland and Romania, lack confidence in Europe's independent defense capabilities. They continue to rely on the US-led NATO for security, showing little interest in the formation of a European Army. It is foreseeable that if these conflicts remain unresolved, the EU's plan to establish a European Army will face significant challenges and the process of deepening defense integration will remain a long and difficult road.

最后，北約是歐洲謀求防務(wù)獨(dú)立始終繞不開的一道坎。北約始終認(rèn)為，歐洲在北約框架之外推動(dòng)“建軍”，將會(huì)引起資源競(jìng)爭(zhēng)、制造對(duì)立，并挑戰(zhàn)北約作為歐洲主要防御機(jī)構(gòu)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)地位。此外，很多歐洲中小國(guó)家，特別是波羅的海沿岸國(guó)家和波蘭、羅馬尼亞等東歐國(guó)家對(duì)歐洲獨(dú)立防務(wù)信心不足，把安全保護(hù)傘寄希望于以美國(guó)為主的北約，對(duì)組建“歐洲軍”的興趣不大?？梢灶A(yù)見的是，如果這些矛盾得不到解決，未來歐盟組建“歐洲軍”計(jì)劃還將面臨重大挑戰(zhàn)，深化防務(wù)一體化的進(jìn)程也將任重而道遠(yuǎn)。

Editor's Note: Originally published on thepaper.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.