Germany Continues Takeover of European Militaries
If you closely follow Europe politics, you will have heard about cooling relations between Germany and Poland.
This was especially true after Mr Trump’s visit to Europe. Just look at the warm reception he received in Poland, and the frosty reception in Germany.
There are significant differences between the two. But behind those headlines, these 2 are moving closer in very important ways.
Between July 9 and 11 significant leaders of the Polish and German armies to discuss enhanced cooperation.
It was an important step in a plan that began back in 2014, where the two sides agreed they would swap battalions.
The German 411th panzer grenadier battalion will service the Polish 34th armoured cavalry brigade, and the Polish 1st panzer battalion will serve in the German 41st panzer grenadier brigade.
That’s a significant level of cooperation. Not as large as the Dutch-German cooperation, where the majority of the Dutch army is now under German command. But it’s still a big deal, with hundreds of Polish troops servicing the German army and vice versa. It’s going to bring them much closer together.
As I mentioned, this started in 2014. In October 2015 there was an election in Poland and a new party, the Law and Justice Party came to power. They are traditionally not at all friendly to Germany.
The cooperation paused. But did not stop. And it has started up again, and as this meeting shows, it is gaining momentum. The units are now training together, getting ready to be integrated with the army from the other country.
At this meeting between the Inspector-General of the German Army and a Polish Brigadier-General both agreed for more cooperation, more exchanges, more projects. The two militaries will coordinate their training together and hold regular meetings.
This isn’t the only cooperation between the two. The Polish army relies on the German Leopard 2 tank and over the past couple of years have signed significant contracts to have German companies upgrade them.
Last year the two began working together to form a joint Submarine Operating Authority. Poland is setting up its submarines so they can link into the German management system. And Germany plays a major role in NATO’s Multinational Corps Northeast, responsible for defending Poland and the Baltic states, and stationed on Polish soil.
All this shows that despite some of the political differences between Poland and Germany right now, they’re still moving forward in very concrete and practical ways. Poland hasn’t invested all of its eggs in the American basket. It is still looking to get German help, especially when it comes to the military.
It’s also an important signal of where Poland would stand on European military cooperation right now. Some are saying that Poland would be against a European army right now, because of this distrust of Germany. There is certainly distrust there. But again, look at the facts on the ground. Poland does not want to slam the door on German military help, and are actually moving closer to Germany when it comes to military cooperation.
It is also another example of Germany drawing in other countries to its military. It already commands most of the Dutch army. It has made, major agreements with the Czech republic and Romanian, bringing their brigades into the German army. They’re talking about creating a multinational panzer division under German command. Be sure to continue to watch Germany building up a European army this way.
