FM: European Union needs own military forces, agreement on common foreign policy and security, or will lose influence internationally

Czech Foreign Minister Lubomír Zaorálek has stated that unless the European Union begins working intensively on forming its own military forces and begins working on common foreign policy goals and security, it will struggle to retain influence on the international scene. Relying on so-called soft power was no longer be enough, he added, as evidenced by the fact that the EU was not invited to take part in talks Astana, Kazakhstan to try and help resolve the conflict in war-torn Syria. Many EU member states are also members of NATO, committed to coming to each other's aid under Article 5. But there has been criticism that some members have not paid their fair share, not least from the president of the United States, Donald Trump.