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World

Cameron, Hollande show different approaches to common goal of closer EU defense cooperation

Associated Press
Published | Updated
  • 37c2ff56-Belgium World War One
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    British Prime Minister David Cameron looks out over rows of World War One graves as he visits Tyne Cot Cemetery in Zonnebeke, Belgium on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013. Both heads of state are visiting several World War One sites ahead of a four year Centenary program which begins in 2014. Tyne Cot is the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the world in terms of burials. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) (The Associated Press)

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    British Prime Minister David Cameron, center right, and Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, center left, listen to local schoolchildren sing during a ceremony at the Irish Peace Tower in Mesen, Belgium on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013. The Irish Peace Tower is a war memorial to the soldiers of the island of Ireland who died, were wounded or are missing from World War One. The tower memorial is close to the site of the June 1917 battle for the Messines Ridge. The visit comes ahead of four years of World War One Centenary events which begin in 2014. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo) (The Associated Press)

BRUSSELS – European Union leaders are seeking to improve their defense cooperation in the face of dwindling military budgets and continued dependence on the United States for common security.

British Prime Minister David Cameron came straight from World War I's battlefields in western Belgium on Thursday to tell a summit of the 28 EU leaders to stand together to meet new defense challenges, even if he rejected the pooling of resources under a common EU flag.

At the same time, French President Francois Hollande used his country's military actions in the Central African Republic to underscore the need for common EU funding to back up the costly military operations of a single member state.

Cameron said "we are making good progress" on closer alignment.