Military Component of European Union’s Security Activity: History, Current Status and Development Prospects

The article examines the military component of the EU's security activities. The history of cooperation between Western European countries after the Second World War in the field of collective defence is highlighted. It is shown that the creation of NATO was the main factor in limiting the scope of autonomous European defence efforts. The author identifies the impact on the military component of the EU's activities of such events as the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014 and a full-scale Moscow attack in 2022. It is emphasised that the North Atlantic Alliance remains the main pillar of European defence capabilities. The author substantiates the view that the basis for its strengthening should be an increase in the quality and scale of defence efforts of each EU country. At the same time, it is concluded that the EU needs to further develop effective joint forces to respond to local security challenges, and that the idea of creating a common ‘European army’ remains on the agenda of the EU's political life.