War-torn Ukraine and Moldova are a step closer on the long road to joining the European Union after member countries approved the start of accession talks.
Well, listen, if I were a Ukrainian military or political leader and I saw an opportunity to have a well enforced ceasefire and then I could STILL join a large military coalition to prevent any further conflicts, then I would take that deal. The real curiosity here is if Russia respects the capabilities of the EU military or if they are only deterred by NATO.
I think these are topics worth discussing in depth to reduce loss of human lives now and in the far future as much as possible.
That's the French Navy, not the "EU military". The EU is not a military alliance, there is really no EU military to speak of, just the militaries of member states who may or may not have any intention or capability of aiding others. Like I said, there are about 60 000 "EU soldiers" under the Common Security and Defence Policy, but they're more for peacekeeping missions.
NATO is pretty much the closest thing there is to an EU military, as a huge percentage of the member states belong to it as well.
The EU has a mutual defence clause, if an outside nation attacked a member then the French Navy would be EU Navy. The only exception to this would be inter-member conflicts.