French admirals back Brexit, say it would slam ‘screeching brakes’ on EU army plans
Britain leaving the European Union would put the “screeching brakes” on Brussels forming a “dangerous” EU army made from the 28-member bloc, two senior French admirals say.
In a letter to the Telegraph condemning the union, Vice Admiral Michel Debray and Rear Admiral Claude Gaucherand said Britain’s neighbors would continue to cooperate with the UK on “close and friendly terms” in the event of a Brexit because of Britain’s military and economic power.
The senior French military chiefs argued the ‘Remain’ campaign’s claims that Britain’s military would be weakened by a Brexit vote on June 23 make “no sense.”
“Viewed rationally and dispassionately from Paris, the scaremongering that we have seen the British people subjected to makes no sense,” the letter says.
“The UK will remain a major force after Brexit, a major military, security and economic power that its neighbors will want to cooperate with on close and friendly terms.
“A Leave vote will apply screeching brakes to those pushing for the integration of the armed forces of the EU’s member states and the otherwise inevitable and dangerous development of a ‘common defence’ as the treaties predict.”
The letter comes as a Foreign Office minister James Dudderidge warned Britain would be completely powerless to stop the creation of an EU army.
The Tory MP and Vote Leave campaigner told the Express it is “not realistic” for Prime Minister David Cameron to claim the UK will play no part in an EU military force, saying Brussels frequently goes against Britain’s interests on matters of foreign policy.
He said the UK is forced to “alter” its ambitions on the world stage “time and time again” to fit the needs of the bloc, which are often “dumbed down” to the “lowest common denominator.”
Dudderidge said he fears Brussels is planning a raft of measures to “grab more cash and spend it on Euro priorities rather than British ones” if the UK votes to remain this month.
According to a recent Pew Research Center survey that polled 10,000 people across Europe, anti-EU sentiment is spreading fast.
Although one of the founding members of the club, the French people are now desperate to leave with just 38 percent supporting the bloc.
By contrast, UK support stands at 44 percent.
Support for the bloc is at its lowest in Greece, with just 27 percent of Greeks surveyed having a favorable opinion of the EU.
