US withdrawal from Afghanistan will lead to EU army, says top diplomat

Josep Borrell believes moment has come for expeditionary force but idea faces opposition from EU members

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan will catalyse" the EU to establish its own permanent military force, the union's foreign policy chief has said, despite years of fruitless debate and opposition from member states.

After a meeting of EU defence ministers, Josep Borrell, the EU's high representative for foreign affairs, said the moment had come to establish an active EU expeditionary force, described by some senior European politicians as an army.