Small EU states should have joint army

There have been several reports that the Czech army plans to decommission its 30 remaining tanks. The left-leaning daily Právo asks whether it makes sense for small European countries like the Czech Republic to maintain a standing army: "Does the Czech Republic need an army at all? Is someone threatening us, or is there reason to believe we will be threatened in the future? … Maintaining an entire army should be left to the big European countries like Germany, France, the UK and Italy whose economies are strong enough to generate the necessary funding. The medium and small states should maintain a complete joint army, composed of special units from individual countries. The seeds of such an idea have already been sown, but much remains to be done before the project starts working as a whole. Nato should talk less and take more practical action. But a higher degree of EU integration is also required because this would without doubt be the seed for a joint European army."

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