Comments by "Regis" (@Timbo5000) on "RealLifeLore" channel.

Ik ben een neanderlander?
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@badhero88 I just told you the EU has the same "attack on one is attack on all" articles as NATO does. Yes it is a military alliance (not union), but the main focus is an economic and political union. Still, it is also a military alliance to defend said economic/political union. An attack on one EU member state is an attack on all.
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Abu Troll al cockroachistan Nah, Finland is EU and the EU has "attack on one is attack on all" articles like NATO does. Russia can't take Finland, they would immediately face all of western Europe and possibly the US would join in too.
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Big Smoke All of the EU would, they have the same "attack on one is attack on all" articles as NATO does. So RIP Russia if they try this
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Asking the relevant questions, finally!
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This book is stuck in the 1930s, none of this would fly today. Taking Finland or one of the Baltic states alone would be attacking the EU, which would put a combined military against Russia that is right now about equal in size to its military, but has a war industry and population pool that dwarfs the Russian one by several times. That won't end well for Russia, and that's not even mentioning the probable involvement of the US and the fact that such a war is also very much against the interest of China which might act too.
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Maybe you should do your research more prudently then. I'll do it for you: Treaty on the European Union, Title V on common foreign and security policy (an entire chapter dedicated to common defence), article 42 paragraph 7: 'If a Member State is the victim of armed aggression on its territory, the other Member States shall have towards it an obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power, in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.' (art. 51 of UN Charter is about self-defence being a legal means of engaging in war). So yes, the EU is very much a military alliance. Its main focus is the economic and political union, but it is also a military alliance that collectively defends itself if one of its member states is attacked. There is no EU army because the EU is a military ALLIANCE, not a military UNION. Though with talk of an EU army we might be a military union as well in the future.
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@badhero88 The NATO treaty article 5 is ".... if such an armed attack occurs, each of them, in exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith, individually and in concert with the other Parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force". Not only does the NATO treaty also use "to assist", but it states "such action as it deems necessary", which is LESS clear about the obligation to use force than "by all means of their power", which obviously includes military action. If the US decides simply supplying the EU when it has been attacked is enough to assist them but for the rest stay neutral, technically they complied with the NATO treaty. If Germany does the same with, say, Finland being attacked, they are in breach of the obligation to support them "by all means in their power". At this point you're just disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing. Especially considering the EU literally has military missions going on, like the anti-piracy mission in Somalia, which is not NATO, not UN, not just a group of countries, but a designated EU mission. It is clearly a military alliance. NATO is the primary defence of Europe and the main channel through which we coordinate our common defence, but the EU is also a military alliance that protects all its member states against attack, independently of NATO. The EU common defence principle is especially important when non-NATO EU members are attacked, but otherwise the NATO treaty is the main defence of Europe.
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