Poland pushes for EU-NATO army

Polish President Lech Kaczynski is trying to drum up support for a multinational EU army of 100,000 troops to support NATO missions.

In an interview, Kaczynski told the Financial Times he would take the matter to London Monday for a 2-day meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He said he had floated the idea to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, and Kaczynski's twin brother, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, had made the suggestion to German Chancellor Angela Merkel last week.

"At the moment we have the situation where the EU needs about 8,000 troops in Lebanon and there is a problem where to find them," Kaczynski told the newspaper.

The proposal would build on the existing European Rapid Reaction Force, which was created in 2004 and deployed in the former Yugoslavia, but not outside Europe, the report said.
Source:upi.com