They fear a joint E. U military and particlarly one in which the French are involved. THey make some fierce military equipmwnt and Department 1 outclasses the CIA and the Mossad as the worlds best intelligence service. They dont mind little niceties like not torturing captives to get information. And they are ususally quite effective at getting it.
With this, the Paris-Moscow axis would be rather effective in working towards a mutual defense treaty between Russia and the E. U. and with that you might see the E. U,. taking responsibility for all of the nukes that the Russians still possess. Such a defense treaty would make a E.U./Russia liason a super power that would be on par with U.S. military might and challenge any military presence of America in the Eastern Hemisphere.
Some of this has already started:
Russia, France pledge to boost military cooperation
MOSCOW: Russia and France pledged on Friday to boost military cooperation, developing an alliance born out of their joint opposition to the US-led war in Iraq.
“Defense relations between Russia and France are old and excellent, but considering the global situation and the new risks in the world, they must be further reinforced,” visiting French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said at the start of talks with her Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov.
France and Russia spearheaded outspoken opposition to the US-led war and are leading efforts to ensure the United Nations plays a central role in Iraq’s reconstruction. “Military relations between Russia and France are a very important element for stability in Europe,” Ivanov said.
“We have a lot of things to say to each other,” he said, adding, “Lately, military-technical cooperation has received a very energetic impulse.” Alliot-Marie arrived in Moscow late on Thursday and was also due to hold talks on Iraq with Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov before leaving late on Friday for Oman and India.
The French defense minister said the Moscow talks would also touch on Russian-French cooperation in joint military missions, including peacekeeping in Afghanistan and Kosovo.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_26-4-2003_pg7_2Russia, France Offer Gauge for Iraq Policy
By David M. Shribman
Since the beginning of the decade-long struggle between the United States and Iraq, France and Russia have been the leading powers sympathetic to Saddam Hussein. Linked by oil contracts, military sales, and loans, they have been Iraq's partisans, protectors, and proxies. Now, with a growing sense that Bush sees Iraq's chemical and biological weapons programs as regional or even global threats, the State Department is keeping an eye on France and Russia. If the two, members of the United Nations Security Council, deplore UN sanctions and help Baghdad buy more time in its efforts to restrict the movement of weapons inspectors or to keep them away entirely, the administration will know that diplomatic efforts will be unavailing. If, on the other hand, France and Russia begin to take a harder line against Iraq, they will be sending a potent message inside Iraq.
"If Iraq realizes that its principal supporters, France and Russia, have gone wobbly, then that will send an important signal to the people you most want to convince in Iraq that the regime will change - the upper-level technocrats," said Charles A. Duelfer, former deputy chairman of the United Nations Special Commission on Iraq.
Indeed, the State Department is increasingly convinced that France and Russia could do more to avoid a military confrontation by standing up to Baghdad than by standing by Baghdad.
Here's why: France and Russia are far less concerned about the viability of Saddam Hussein than they are about the viability of their own oil and manufacturing contracts. By toughening their approach to Baghdad - and by prompting an internal rebellion against Saddam Hussein - they could help assure a new stability in Iraq that would actually help get their contracts renewed and their loans repaid.
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/iraq/2002/0312france.htmThis Franco-Russiam Military alliance is being formed in order to try to provide a counterbalance to the Anglo American Aliance formed because of the war in Iraq.
An E.U. miltary force would include France, and the U.S. feels much more secure with NATO, because France is not a part of it.