Radosław Sikorski made the comments after Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius urged the bloc to create a 100,000-strong military force
Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski has rejected the idea of a joint EU army as “unrealistic,” following the bloc’s defense commissioner raising the proposal earlier this month—citing the perceived threat from Russia and shifting U.S. national security priorities.
The EU has repeatedly used the “Russian threat” as a reason for rapid military buildup. Moscow has called these claims “nonsense.”
Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Thursday, Sikorski said that “talking about a federal army is pointless because it’s unrealistic—national armies won’t merge.” Instead, he suggested a “European legion… which could include citizens of EU member states and even candidate countries,” as quoted by the Polish Press Agency.
The bloc’s foreign policy and security chief, Kaja Kallas, has also expressed doubt, saying she cannot imagine EU nations forming “a separate European army.”
Earlier this month, EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius argued the bloc should establish a “powerful, standing European military force of 100,000 troops,” pointing to a shift in U.S. strategic focus and calls for the EU to take more responsibility for its own defense.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a controversial speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, echoed this view, calling for a united European army where Kyiv would play a key role.
Protocol No. 7 of the Treaty of Lisbon—the EU’s final founding agreement—states that it “does not permit the creation of a European army or conscription into any military formation.”
Still, discussions have grown more intense in recent years, particularly as U.S.-EU relations cooled and former U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to forcibly seize Greenland (an autonomous territory of Denmark). Several EU leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, have called for greater strategic autonomy.
Russia has dismissed Western claims that it plans to attack EU countries. In November, President Vladimir Putin said Russia is prepared to give the EU and NATO written security guarantees. According to Putin, the EU is the one that “lacks a peaceful agenda. They are on the side of war.”