Nigel Farage has long warned against plans to bring military forces from across the European Union together in a common defence force. French President Emmanuel Macron, however, has repeatedly insisted the EU should create a common army to stop relying on the support of international organisations like Nato. Urging colleagues not to confirm a potential Macron ally, Ursula von Der Leyen, as head of the Commission to avoid the creation of such a force, Mr Farage told the European Parliament: “She’s a fanatic for building a European Army but she is not alone.
“When it’s completed, Nato will cease to exist or have any relevance in Europe at all.
“Not to be left out of this, French President Emmanuel Macron, on Bastille Day last Sunday, stood at the front of an open-top car, with his European defence force behind him looking for all the world like an updated version of Napoleon.”
President Macron took to the Champs Elysees in Paris on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille with a large military parade. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte joined their French counterpart.
Mr Farage continued: “Be in no doubt, five years of these people, the European defence union will be complete and what is there for defence can also be used for attack.
“You as a house will have no control over it. Vote against this nominee, strike a blow for democracy, strike a blow for your citizens.”
Troops from ten countries took part in the Bastille Day celebrations on Sunday, with 4,000 military personnel marching down the Champs Elysees as 69 planes and 39 helicopters took to the skies.
President Macron last year claimed the EU would not be “protected” until all European Union members states agreed to the need for a “real European army”.
Speaking to Europe 1 to defend his support for the EU Army project, the French President said in November: “I believe in a project of a sovereign Europe, a powerful Europe.
“We won’t protect Europeans if we don’t settle on having a real European Army.”
Brexit Party MEP Michael Heaver told podcast Brexbox: “I do think it’s significant the fact that she’s the German defence minister. I think that shows clearly, and we’ve heard it from Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel: a full EU army; that’s what they’re focusing on.
“And that’s, I think, why they’re trying to bring her in.”
Mrs von Der Leyen has expressed her support for strengthening military cooperation across the EU but also insisted a European force would not compete with NATO.
Socialist MEP Raphaël Glucksmann earlier this month claimed Brussels could no longer depend on the US and Nato for its defence, accusing EU leaders of failing to assume their responsibilities in this area.
Speaking to France Info radio, the French MEP said: “European governments have been behaving like teenagers for more than 75 years.
“We have the American defence umbrella and refuse to face up to the fact that we are now adults.
“Today is a time for Europe to build its own defence, to guarantee itself a strategic autonomy and to build a vision of the world without depending on the United States.”