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Brussels officials will draw up a plan on how to use the EU's little-known mutual assistance pact in the event of a foreign attack, as Donald Trump's criticism of NATO escalates.
EU leaders have agreed that the European Commission "will prepare a plan" on how the bloc will react if the mutual assistance clause is activated, according to Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides, who is welcoming the talks.
According to The Guardian, they discussed the mutual defense clause, Article 42.7 of the EU treaty, on Thursday evening, before reports emerged that the US was considering ways to suspend Spain from NATO.
Trump, a long-time critic of the transatlantic military alliance, has stepped up his attacks, calling NATO “a very disappointing alliance” after European countries refused to get involved in the US-Israeli war against Iran. This month he said he was “without a doubt” considering withdrawing the US from NATO, plunging the 77-year-old alliance into the biggest crisis in its history.
Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, who has been the most vocal European critic of the war in Iran, said on Friday that Spain was a loyal member of NATO, while also reiterating his criticism of the "failure of brute force in the Middle East."
In this context, there has been renewed interest in the EU's mutual assistance clause, which imposes on member states "the obligation to aid and assist by all means at their disposal" if another country is attacked by a foreign government or a non-state actor.
"Let's say France activates Article 42.7. Which countries will be the first to respond to the request of the French government? What are the needs of the government or the country that activates Article 42.7?" said Nikos Christodoulides, the president of Cyprus.
According to him, such issues will be part of the plan, in order to “have an operational plan to implement” if and when Article 42.7 is activated.
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