The Romanians at Eufor are not replaced. Agreement with Albania

(B2) The absence of Romanians at Eufor is confirmed. They were to go north of Abéché, to Iriba, with the Polish contingent. This will not be the case after the Supreme Defense Council decision to limit the commitment of Romanian soldiers. And "at the moment, there is no replacement planned", it is said in the Council of the EU. This is the first major breach by a Member State of its commitments made when the mission was launched.

This event demonstrates, in any case, the full importance of the prior reservations made by a Member State, during force generation conferences. The Romanians had mentioned the need to obtain authorization from the CSAT. It also shows all the fragility of the commitments of certain governments, in particular coalitions. In February, the Romanian Minister of Defense had publicly reproached his counterpart for Foreign Affairs, during a session in the Romanian Senate, for having initiated Romania's participation in Chad, at the Council of Ministers of the EU in December , without the approval of the Superior Defense Council. It is finally a setback for the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who had obtained during his visit to Romania in February, a personal commitment from President Basecu on this presence (Too bad, they had the same flag as that of the government of Chad. ..).

In other news, on the sidelines of the EU-Mediterranean summit in Paris on Sunday July 13, Javier Solana and Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha initialed the agreement confirming the participation of 60 Albanian to Operation Eufor.

(NGV)

© Photos: (top) Romanians in Iraq (Romanian Defense Ministry)
(bottom right) signing of the Solana-Berisha agreement in Paris (EU Council)