THE EU must sharply increase cooperation on defence and intelligence to combat Islamist terrorism and other threats, the leaders of France, Germany and Italy said late on Monday, as they insisted that they were not disheartened by Britain’s Out vote.

Standing on the deck of the Giuseppe Garibaldi, an Italian aircraft carrier, Francois Hollande, Angela Merkel and Matteo Renzi acknowledged that Europe faced the forces of “disintegration” and grave threats, including terrorist attacks, the war in Syria and the migration crisis.

It was a highly symbolic venue — the Garibaldi is coordinating the EU’s migrant rescue operation in the Mediterranean, amid fears that Islamist terrorists could enter Europe by passing themselves off as refugees.

Merkel, the German chancellor, who is known to back stronger EU defence plans, called for better sharing of information between European intelligence services to thwart the kind of attacks that have hit her country along with France and Belgium.

“We feel that faced with Islamist terrorism and in light of the civil war in Syria, that we need to do more for our internal and external security,” she said

President Hollande of France also called for greater cooperation on defence, as his country comes to terms with a string of terrorism attacks in recent months.

“Europe must ensure its own defence, and France is certainly playing its role,” he said.

“I also insisted on defence, because we want to ensure that there is greater coordination there, extra means and forces.”

Plans to press ahead with a so-called “EU army” will be easier now that the UK is leaving the bloc, a former head of the Italian military said.

General Vincenzo Camporini, former chief of the general staff, said the British thwarted a common defence policy for Europe years.

“Every step forward was blocked [by the British]. The British position was crucial — everyone knew that without London, you couldn’t even begin to talk about a common European defence policy,” he told La Repubblica newspaper.

Italy’s prime minister, Renzi, echoed the call for more defence measures, while adding that Europe would not suffer from Britain’s departure as many had predicted.

“For many populists, Europe is to blame for everything that goes wrong,” Renzi said.

“Immigration, it’s Europe’s fault, the economy is bad, it’s Europe’s fault. But that is not the case.”

“Many people felt that after Brexit, Europe would come to an end, but that is not the case,” he said,

“We respect the choice made by the British citizens, but at the same time we want to be able to turn the page on a new future.”

The meeting was designed to lay the groundwork for an EU summit in Bratislava next month.

Monday’s talks marked the beginning of a week of meetings for Merkel with other European governments that will see her travel to four countries and receive leaders from another eight.

“We respect Great Britain’s decision but we also want to make clear that the other 27 (member states) are banking on a safe and prospering Europe,” the German chancellor said

source : gulfnews