News BlogAmericas

Earthquake in Haiti: Should a battlegroup leave? Should a special envoy be appointed?

HaitiRepatriationCasa2@Fr100115
(BRUSSELS2) It may seem incongruous for a military battle group to go on a natural disaster operation. Some aesthetes will be able to assure me that this does not come out of the typical missions of a battlegroup? Probably yes. But you have to be flexible. This is the meaning of the latest decisions taken at the end of the Swedish presidency (read: (Slightly) more flexible battlegroups).

There is a very specific situation in Haiti. With the earthquake, the State is touched in the heart: several ministers died, as well as many civil servants; public buildings have collapsed, starting with hospitals. The rescue and humanitarian aid operation should therefore be accompanied by a mission of support for the State (mission very similar to a mission of the rule of law) and support for the maintenance of order. A mission limited in time (a few weeks) and within range of aircraft (which meets some of the intervention criteria of a battle group). An urgent mission! It is up to Catherine Ashton, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Carme Chacon, the Spanish Minister of Defence, to show some determination.

What could do an EU battlegroup? Doing humanitarian aid directly is not the responsibility of the military, but there are many support missions to accomplish. The first objective of the battlegroup could be to make available its airborne means (planes, helicopters...) as well as medical means (advanced medical post...). The second will be to be able to ensure the protection of rescuers, NGOs, distribution points, health centers and hospitals... In a situation where basic needs are not assured and where order can tip over into chaos in no time time (Haiti has not been spared food riots in recent years). The third objective will be to lend assistance to the Haitian State in its sovereign functions. Finally the battlegroup will be able to ensure the evacuation of the Europeans (which is, there, one of the structural functions of a battlegroup)... In short, there is no shortage of work.

Who can leave? This semester it is the Anglo-Dutch battlegroup and the "central" battlegroup (Poland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania,
Slovakia) who are permanent. But will they have the political will to intervene? And the meaning of the necessary adaptation? It will probably take a little innovation to urgently adapt the Battlegroup missions to the classic missions...

Why leave? When we see the intense American mobilization, the Europeans cannot stand idly by with their traditional means of intervention (money and equipment). We need a constituted body, organized, ready to intervene, for mixed missions between support for humanitarian actions, maintenance of order and support for the rule of law. The UN forces, once disorganized, will certainly need organized and operational reinforcement quickly, which gives a framework of international legality to the intervention of the battlegroup. The Treaty of Lisbon provides a new framework for intervention: the clauses of solidarity, mutual assistance as well as
only one new competence: civil security at the European Commission. Last but not least, this time-limited mission would not weigh too much in terms of a drop in capacity (and in terms of budget). It would also be an opportunity for Catherine Ashton, the High Representative, to show her real abilities.

An EU special envoy? Independently of this sending of troops, the EU should, in my view, also study the appointment of a special envoy responsible for coordinating all European aid, both at the humanitarian level, but also political action, and support to the Haitian state.

(photo credit: French Ministry of Defence/DICOD - repatriation of an injured person to the West Indies by an Air Force Casa)

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

Comments closed.

s2Member®