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Rasmussen spoke in the run-up to an EU summit on defence in December (Photo: europarl.europa.eu)

Nato chief: EU soft power is 'no power at all'

Nato head Anders Fogh Rasmussen has said there cannot be a credible EU foreign policy without the military means to back it up.

"We Europeans must understand that soft power alone is really no power at all. Without hard capabilities to back up its diplomacy, Europe will lack credibility and influence," he told MEPs on the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee in Brussels on Monday (6 May).

"If European nations do not make a firm commitment to invest in security and defen...

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Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's Foreign Affairs Editor. He has been writing about foreign and security affairs for EUobserver since 2005. He is Polish but grew up in the UK. He has also written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Times of London.

Rasmussen spoke in the run-up to an EU summit on defence in December (Photo: europarl.europa.eu)

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Author Bio

Andrew Rettman is EUobserver's Foreign Affairs Editor. He has been writing about foreign and security affairs for EUobserver since 2005. He is Polish but grew up in the UK. He has also written for The Guardian, The Telegraph, and The Times of London.

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