Under the initiative of Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt,leaders of Germany, France, Luxembourg and Belgium will meet in Brussels on April 29, the German newspaper Handelsblatt reported last week.

The summit aims at achieving "a closer cooperation in military field," German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder was quoted as saying.

Verhofstadt has written to French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair last June, calling for the establishment of an EU military headquarters in Brussels with sufficient personnel and independent budget. Although it was turned down at that time, it remains open as to whether Belgium will renew the proposal in the meeting next month, said the newspaper.

Meanwhile, the German news magazine Der Spiegel revealed that Germans and French were planning a "core Europe," in which willing EU members will form a new alliance in foreign and security policies.

The plan envisages that such a "core Europe" will consist of France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, said the report.

The renewed discussion over closer cooperation among EU members in foreign and defense policies has apparently to do with the Iraq crisis.

Despite the strong opposition from its traditional allies, the fact that the United States has gone into the war with Iraq without the mandate of the United Nations has taught "Old Europe" a new lesson about diplomacy backed by military strength, analysts here said.

The EU needs to develop "real military capacities, not against the US, but as a counter weight," the German news agency DPA quoted Belgian Prime Minister Verhofstadt as saying.

Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel said that the EU has to lay foundations for common defense to win clout in international discussions such as the debate on Iraq.

In an interview with the German weekly Die Zeit, Chancellor Schroeder also called for strengthening the voice of Europe in international affairs through stronger performance of German defense force and close cooperation with European allies.

The Iraq war has not only pitched Washington against its traditional allies of France and Germany, but also those two countries against eastern European countries, which will soon join the European Community.

The idea of "core Europe" will help move forward the European integration in foreign and defense policies with those willing countries taking the first step, the analysts said.

The dispute over the war also highlighted the differences of security priority between Washington and its European allies.

Concerned that the United States will in long run reduce its engagement in Europe, some European politicians have called for closer defense cooperation among EU member countries.

Others politicians note the total budget of European countries equals 60 percent that of the United States, and therefore, the question is not lack of resources but lack of cooperation.

However, whether the renewed discussion over defense integration can be realized remains to be seen. Over the past decade, Europeans have talked enthusiastically about common defense policy to only limited results. Issues such as national sovereignty, limited military spending and interests in domestic defense industries have hampered progress in this respect.

The European defense integration will also inevitably lead to clashes with the United States. No matter what will happen, the trend of development in the European common defense is noteworthy.

(Xinhua News Agency March 31, 2003)