... as Juncker calls for a European army

A EUROPEAN army should be built to protect the continent against the threat f rom Vladimir Putin, the European Commission president claimed yesterday.

Jean-Claude Juncker said the army, to be commanded by Brussels, would allow the EU to ‘react credibly’ to dangers facing the union. He said the force would show the Russians the 8-member bloc was ‘serious about upholding the values’ of the EU in the face of continuing aggression. The army, which would work alongside Nato, would serve as a deterrent in an increasingly dangerous world, he added.

Mr Juncker told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag: ‘Such an army would help us to build a common foreign and national security policy, and to collectively take on Europe’s responsibilities in the world.’

But last night many were fiercely critical of the proposal. Former RAF head Sir Michael Graydon said Putin would merely ‘laugh’ at how ‘pitiful’ the EU member states were without the US, while Ukip defence spokesman Mike Hookem said a European army would be an ‘utter disaster for the UK’.

Prime Minister David Cameron has previously blocked plans for EU-owned forces, telling a Brussels summit in 013 that ‘it isn’t right for the European Union to have capabilities, armies, air forces and all the rest of it’.