“I think Article 44 of the European treaties gives us an opportunity for joint EU decisions and for the implementation of European tasks by coalitions of willing within member states,” the conservative politician said in the Saturday edition of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ).
“We are preparing a proposal on this matter, which should be on the table at a meeting of defense ministers before the end of October,” he added.
Article 44 states that the Council of the European Union may entrust the conduct of a task to a group of Member States which are willing and have the necessary capabilities for such a task. Accordingly, not all EU countries have to be directly involved in such tasks, according to the German news agency (dpa).
If Europeans want to be taken seriously and have credibility, Kramp-Karrenbauer said, they must be able to act with credibility. “There can be situations where we have a different set of interests, as well as within NATO.”
That’s why she suggested to be specific in the EU, she said: “How do decisions fall, who will lead the force, what units are assigned to them, what are the support forces?” Kramp-Karrenbauer said she currently sees an opportunity to achieve something.
About the Taliban taking power in Afghanistan about a month ago, the Christian Democratic politician (CDU) said: “No one expected such a rapid fall of Kabul, and since then I have also looked at reports from our allies.” She said she raised the issue of local forces very early in the German government.
“We managed to get a large number of those who worked in the German army during the last two years out of the country before the situation reached its peak.”
However, she said, those who came as a result of far-reaching agreements in the federal government can no longer be granted visas. “This is also what bothers me personally. I took this up very early on, but it took a long time until the summer before we could push it through the federal government.”