On August 27 (local time), according to TASS news agency, Commander of the British Royal Navy, General Gwyn Jenkins, said that the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) led by Britain may actually replace NATO in some crisis situations in Northern Europe.
According to Mr. Jenkins, JEF has an advantage in being able to make decisions faster because it does not require the consensus of all 10 member countries before acting.
Because it does not require the consensus of all 10 countries in the JEF to act, this force has political flexibility to respond to crises, especially in the early stages, faster than NATO," Mr. Jenkins shared.
The Commander of the British Royal Navy believes that the requirement to reach consensus among NATO members may make the force mobilization process take longer in emergencies.
Mr. Jenkins said that NATO leaders support strengthening cooperation with the JEF. According to him, the JEF can help member countries quickly respond in the early stages of a crisis, before NATO can mobilize full forces.
JEF was established by the UK in 2014 and currently includes 10 Nordic and Baltic countries, including Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Estonia and the UK.
This force was established to strengthen coordination between member countries and help them quickly mobilize and bring forces to participate in response when crises occur.
General Jenkins' assessment was made in the context that European countries are strengthening defense cooperation and seeking to improve their ability to respond to security threats in northern Europe.
