Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist said Friday he did not support the idea of creating a unified pan-European army, which was earlier proposed by some European politicians, Trend reports citing Sputnik.
"In-depth partnership with NATO and transatlantic ties are important to Swedish defence and security policy. Sweden supports close cooperation between the EU and NATO, but I do not see the need to create an EU army or any expansion of EU military headquarters", Hultqvist said in a statement.
The European Union and NATO share a majority of their members. Nevertheless, European countries are also seeking to strengthen their defence cooperation within the European Union.
The idea of an EU army has been floated around by a number of top EU politicians, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The latter suggested that this joint force could be a complement to NATO.
However, EU foreign policy and defence chief Federica Mogherini denied building one in November, just as NATO head Jens Stoltenberg warned that EU efforts should not compete with the alliance, which he called the bedrock for European security.