title: nhl philadelphia flyers beat buffalo sabres
text: eu nato secretary general jens stoltenberg speaks during a press conference at the organizations headquarters in brussels on october   photo by afp 
  nato secretary general jens stoltenberg has downplayed suggestions that eu military buildup might undermine the western alliance as the bid to establish an independent european army appears to gain momentum 
  i strongly believe it is absolutely possible to strengthen european defense without duplicating efforts by nato stoltenberg said on thursday adding eu leaders have also conveyed that this is not about the eu doing collective defense the eu building structures that would compete with nato 
  stoltenberg made the remarks following a meeting between european unions foreign policy chief federica mogherini and nato defense ministers in brussels 
  mogherini one of the strongest supporters of a joint european defense force has drawn up a global strategy for the bloc which says the nation bloc should seek strategic autonomy to face multiple security threats ranging from conventional to hybrid warfare from the ukraine crisis to syria from poverty in africa to massive refugee flows 
  the proposal has sparked concerns that the bloc is seeking a more independent role 
  mogherini on thursday said the bloc does have civilian and military operations such as in africa or in the mediterranean and needs to improve command and control centers to run them 
  she however attempted to downplay concerns that the formation of an eu force could lead to the duplication of nato functions saying but this can be done  without any kind of overlapping or duplication with nato nato secretary general jens stoltenberg r chairs a nato defense ministers meeting flanked by eu foreign policy chief federica mogherini nd l and nato deputy secretary general rose gottemoeller nd r at the nato headquarters in brussels on october   photo by afp 
  in july an eu strategy document said that the bloc should look to create greater military autonomy from nato it stated the eu could no longer rely on the alliance regarding various security issues and must instead develop an ability to act autonomously if and when necessary 
  european commission president jeanclaude juncker was the first to call for the establishment of an eu army in march  
  a joint eu army would show the world that there would never again be a war between eu countries he said 
  his suggestion however received a cool response from nato loading