The European Union (EU) should send troops to Ukraine while Kyiv continues its fight against invading Russian forces as NATO remains idle, according to retired U.S. Army Colonel Alexander Crowther.
Crowther, who previously served as special assistant to NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, said during an interview published by U.S. government-funded media outlet Radio Free Europe on Sunday that NATO was currently “stuck” and prevented from making any moves to aid Ukraine at least until the alliance’s summit takes place in Washington, D.C., in July.
French President Emmanuel Macron suggested sending Western troops to Ukraine last month, unleashing a torrent of concerns about expanding the scope of the Ukraine war with the potential involvement of NATO member states. The founding treaty of the alliance mandates that military action against one member is treated as action against the entire organization.
In an opinion article published one day after Macron’s suggestion by the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), where Crowther serves as senior fellow, the retired colonel argued in favor of the EU providing “passive support” to Ukraine, so long as a deployment includes “clear messaging to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin that EU operations would not be escalatory.”
Thierry Monasse
Crowther argued in the interview published by Radio Free Europe on Sunday that sending EU troops would not pose any serious risk of NATO involvement in the war, despite all but four EU members also being members of NATO.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for the European Union to step up and do this stuff,” Crowther said. “If you look at who’s responsible for security in Europe, writ large: You have internal, you have external, you have soft power, you have market power, and then you have information power.”
“NATO is responsible for external hard power for Europe,” he continued. ” Internal hard power … all of that belongs to the European Union, not to NATO. NATO is a one-trick pony, as we say … It’s vital. But we’ve got to remember that the European Union is responsible for all these other [aspects]. Security is bigger than just external hard power.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to the EU late Monday night.
While the EU has not announced plans to send troops to Ukraine, the European nations have recently stepped up to increase military aid to Ukraine in the absence of assistance from the U.S., where President Joe Biden’s requested $60 billion aid package remains held up amid partisan disputes in Congress.
Last week, EU officials announced a plan to further boost Ukraine aid by significantly increasing the production of weapons in Europe, which would reduce the continent’s reliance on U.S.-made arms.
Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s commissioner for competition, said that the plan would help Europe “take more responsibility for our own security, while, of course, remaining fully committed to our NATO alliance.”
Vestager also argued that the plan would serve as a safeguard against the possibility of former President Donald Trump forcing the U.S. to abandon Ukraine and NATO if he returns to the White House by winning this year’s presidential election.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.