Euractiv | Finland’s Stubb wants to better structure EU and NATO defence tasks

Eastern and Nordic EU members have traditionally called on the EU and NATO to avoid duplication in tasks, but instead be complementarity. Some countries see the EU taking up a larger role in defence policy as a threat to NATO, which could hurt their relationship with the US and cause them to lose American protection.

Speaking in Brussels as newly sworn-in Finnish president, in charge of foreign and defence policy, and a new member of NATO, Stubb described how he saw the division of labour between the EU and the Western military alliance at a Friends of Europe event.