Afghanistan: “Europeans must take themselves in hand”, P. Lellouche

Pierre Lellouche, true to his reputation, did not go to any lengths during his debriefing session for journalists after the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs. He blamed the lack of "European strategy in Afghanistan", regretting that we did not really talk to each other.

Europeans don't talk to each other enough. " Europeans do not talk to each other. There is no feedback. The French soldiers do not share on the ground with the Belgians or the Germans. We are not talking about political strategy, economic development. Yet there is a huge amount of European money (one billion euros). But the only problem is that it hasn't arrived in the villages where I have been: malnourished children remain malnourished, poverty is extreme. I would like someone to tell me where the money went, European as well as American? There is a real problem with the coordination of aid between Europeans, as with aid to Pakistan. Today, we are up against the wall. General McCrystal is not going to solve the situation. We absolutely have to talk about Afghanistan among ourselves. »

The plus of the EU. For the minister, who was the French special representative for Afghanistan, the European Union (EU) however has a card to play: There is a plus of the EU: the civil-military; know-how: aid in the reconstruction of a State. The problem is underdevelopment, the misery of the people, winter hunger and starvation, the decay of health. This is much more the problem than a military problem. We have to work more efficiently: we have the resources, Afghanistan has needs; Europeans need to take matters into their own hands..."

(photo credit: Council of the European Union - Pierre Lellouche with Javier Solana - the High Representative, during the Council)