RTVS | Proposal for the position of Commissioner for Defense

The current President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, proposes the creation of a new position: Commissioner for Defense in the future Commission. Is this proposal feasible? When could this position be established? And who would fill it? How would enhanced EU defense operate alongside NATO was addressed by Vít Havelka, Senior Researcher at EUROPEUM Institute, in a commentary for the Slovak television RTVS.

At the moment, it's more of a political declaration because defense has never been an important point of the EU. Since the end of the Cold War, and even before that, we have never seen the EU as the organization responsible for managing or strengthening the defense of the European continent; that role has always belonged to NATO. However, recently, this has started to change.

You can watch the entire interview starting from the 21. minute here.

Vít Havelka
Senior Research Fellow

Expertise: EU institutional relations with member states, europeisation, transformation role of EU