German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer offered on Saturday to make the E3 format more flexible and invite Italy to the trio's talks on Libya
MUNICH (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2020) German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer offered on Saturday to make the E3 format more flexible and invite Italy to the trio's talks on Libya.
"We [Europe] do have the common instruments and the common interest. Let us find a common political will as well. The E3 format comprising France, the United Kingdom and Germany is another example. With a view to Brexit, especially, it functions as an important link between NATO and the EU and that is why I believe it should be flexible and inclusive. For example when it comes to the stabilization of Libya, I think we should include Italy in this format," Kramp-Karrenbauer said at the Munich Security Conference.
In her speech, she also welcomed France's push for a European security alternative in the Strait of Hormuz after key EU nations refused to join the US maritime security mission in the region.
"We should for the first time make full use of instruments provided to us by the Treaty on the European Union and mandate individual member states at a EU summit to carry out a joint mission [in the region] - some kind of a coalition of the willing based on a common summit decision. The Treaty on the European Union allows this," she added.
The US has been building a military coalition to patrol the Persian Gulf since the summer after a series of attacks on oil tankers in the region, which Washington has blamed on Tehran.
