Vladimir Putin responds to the strategic military turn of the EU

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As info-war reported, Vladimir Putin referred to the need of the Russian industry, irrespective of ownership status, to modify its production for the needs of the armed forces, speaking from the city of Sochi on the Black Sea, according to the British media.

Putin's appeal comes as a response to the change of the German strategic doctrine, which has been open to the militarization of Berlin's foreign policy since 2014, but also to the plans of several European countries to reintroduce compulsory military service.

Putin's statements were made on the context of the Zapad 2017 military exercise to deal with a potential attack with nuclear weapons.

Among other things, the exercise included the seizure by the armed forces of small and larger local businesses for the needs of transferring soldiers, the facilitation of telecommunications and the logistical support of the participating units.

Recall that recently, the EU has moved a step closer towards having a joint military force by signing an agreement on a permanent command structure.

The agreement on PESCO, or Permanent Structured Cooperation, was signed in Brussels by 23 members of the 28-strong European Union on Monday. EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini supported the move, hailing it as an “historic moment.” Backed by a €5-billion ($6.5-billion) EU defense fund, PESCO “will enable member states to use the economy of scale of Europe and in this manner to fulfil the gap of output that we have.”

The agreement will come into force in December, after which members will be legally bound to participate in projects under PESCO. Work on the pact started last year amid uncertainty over the UK’s decision to withdraw from the European Union, and US President Donald Trump’s continued criticism of European NATO members for failing to deliver on defense-spending commitments.

European heavyweights Germany and France are leading the effort to bring the EU closer to having a permanent joint armed force. The UK, which has been opposing a pan-European military force for decades, is not part of the agreement. Denmark, Ireland, Portugal, and Malta opted out; while Austria, not a member of NATO, agreed to join at the last moment.

As Germany attempts to grab the US sphere of influence in Europe, Putin's statements show that Russia fears that may have to deal with a double threat in the future, which is NATO plus a potential EU separate military force.

An independent from NATO future EU army will force the big European players to enlarge and modernize significantly their military forces in order to fulfill their separate strategic goals against Russia. Russia would struggle to fight against two big enemies in separate geopolitical fields.

However, the fierce fight between the US and the European big capital in their effort to control resources and expand influence will eventually maximize the competition between the hard core of the EU and the US. And this is something that Russia should exploit to break the sinister Western alliance, in order to survive from a possible military or economic attack in the future.