Solana wants EU to enforce peace in the Middle East

Solana wants EU to enforce peace in the Middle East

In another article, we saw how the Antichrist’s 7-year covenant implies a promise of military protection for Israel. (Isa. 28:15-18, Zech. 11:17, Ezek. 38:8;10-11). Furthermore, it also peacefully expands the Antichrist’s empire. In Revelation 6:1-2, the Antichrist rides out as a conqueror on a white horse. He holds a bow and apparently conquers without bloodshed. This is in contrast to the second horseman, who rides a red horse. He carries a sword, and takes peace from the earth.

All of this is important as we explore the motives and policy recommendations of top Antichrist candidate, Javier Solana. In 2015, he chaired a group of experts on how to make the EU a military power. In their report, they proposed creating a “European Defense Union.” (1)

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(1)

They proposed that the EU should have:

...a political and military ability to autonomously conduct intervention operations beyond the EU’s borders. (1)

The purpose of these military interventions would be to "respond to or deter crises." Furthermore, they would be use to provide “security” to neighboring countries. They said that the EU should become an:

...an autonomous security provider in its neighbourhood and beyond. (1)

In another article, Solana said that:

The EU, after all, will be defined by its actions, and peace and security are among the public goods that it must provide, both within and beyond its borders. (2)

Elsewhere in the report on European Defense Union, they state that the EU has a duty to “project security.” This is very imperialistic, and is reminiscent of the rider on the white horse. He conquers from afar with his bow, apparently without bloodshed.

Without a strong military arm, the EU cannot live up to its self-imposed duty to project security and development... (1)

Solana and his team also lamented the EU’s failure to intervene in the Middle East and North Africa.

As in Ukraine, the explosion of violence has revealed the EU’s lack of preparedness and willingness to intervene in the MENA [Middle East & North Africa] region. Poor intelligence gathering and/or sharing, a failure of geostrategic analysis, and a lack of political solidarity are all to blame. The lessons for future EU engagement with the MENA region demand a greater differentiation in relations with neighbouring countries and an awareness of wider geostrategic and geo-economic trends – in effect infusing foreign policy proper into the technocratic European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and upgrading the ENP toolbox with rapid-reaction capabilities drawn from the CSDP (1)

They say that the EU’s foreign policy instrument, which is confirmed for 7 years, should have military “rapid-reaction capabilities” to apparently stabilize the Middle East and North Africa.

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In another part of the report, Solana and company say that the EU needs to live up to its “responsibility to protect.”

Insofar as threats require a more expeditionary reaction, for instance to prevent or in response to a humanitarian emergency, or in order to put an end to crimes against humanity in a civil war-like scenario occurring in a fragile country, the EU should use its military assets to live up to its responsibility to protect, preferably acting on behalf of and/or alongside the United Nations. (1)

In the article summarizing their report, Solana says that the EU must use military force to stabilize neighboring countries. In this way, the EU would live up to its “security responsibilities.”

An ambitious EU foreign policy aimed at reducing instability and state fragility at the Union’s borders will take on and live up to security responsibilities in the strategic neighbourhood through the use of military force and rapid response as needed. (3)

If Solana were to lead a future European Defense Union, he would use the military to enforce peace and security in the Middle East. This would likely include Israel, due to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In another interview in 2022, he said:

“The United States needs a strong EU for stability, to establish peace in neighboring territories. But remember that providing stability is very different from going to war, which is not the aim of the European Union.”

Using military intervention operations to secure peace is very imperial. It’s also very reminiscent of the rider on the white horse. The rider has a bow, which symbolizes the enforcement of peace from a distance.

One way Solana might do this is through the new European Intervention Initiative (EI2), which was launched by France. The goal of the EI2 is for European member countries to work together on when and where to deploy troops to intervene in crisis situations throughout the world. As it says on an official French government website:

the European intervention initiative (EI2) aims at fostering the emergence of a European strategic culture, and particularly, at reinforcing the ability Europeans have to act together. This will be made possible by creating the pre-conditions for coordinated and jointly prepared future engagements in various scenarios of military operations among the whole spectrum of crises that could affect the security of Europe. (4)

References:

  1. Blockmans, Steven, and Giovanni Faleg. "More Union in European Defence." Centre for European Policy Studies. February 26, 2015. Accessed October 27, 2018. https://www.ceps.eu/publications/more-union-european-defence.
  2. Solana, Javier. “European Defense Integration Now by Javier Solana.” Project Syndicate, September 20, 2016. https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/european-defense-integration-now-by-javier-solana-2016-09?barrier=accesspaylog.
  3. Solana, Javier, and Steven Blockmans. "[Opinion] More Union in European Defence." EUobserver. March 11, 2015. Accessed October 27, 2018. https://euobserver.com/opinion/127958.
  4. “European Intervention Initiative.” Directorate General for International Relations and Strategy, April 17, 2020. https://www.defense.gouv.fr/english/dgris/international-action/l-iei/l-initiative-europeenne-d-intervention.

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