Why does Canada want to join the Europe-led JEF military partnership?

Canada has applied to join the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a European military coalition, as it seeks to diversify its diplomatic and security ties following a sharp downturn in relations with the United States.Prime Minister Mark Carney made the request on Wednesday during an official trip to the United Kingdom, which he visited after meeting with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels. She invited Canada to become the first-ever “associate member” of the bloc.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Canada’s Carney welcomes EU’s associated membership proposallist 2 of 4Trump says Canada becoming EU ‘associate member’ could be ‘hostile act’list 3 of 4Can ‘middle powers’ come together to build a new economic alliance?list 4 of 4UK’s Burnham, Canada’s Carney discuss AI risks, defence cooperationend of listIn a statement, Carney called the UK-led JEF an “important initiative”.Canada and the US have recently hit each other with tit-for-tat tariffs after trade talks failed. Ottawa has subsequently launched a transatlantic charm offensive to reduce its heavy reliance on the US on everything from trade to defence.Here’s what we know about the military force ...