EUFOR Libya, the EU's first virtual mission…
(BRUSSELS2) Approved on 1 April, the European humanitarian support mission “EUFOR Libya” was born under bad auspices. And she's starting to look like a very bad April Fool's joke! In literature, this is called an exercise in style. At university, a mock exam... In political terms, this is called a failure...
Since the decision in principle, the operation has indeed been docked and could remain so for a long time. Because the conditions that govern it have not changed. It's not the military's fault. As General Hakan Syren - who chaired the meeting of the military committee on Tuesday at the level of the CHODs (the chiefs of staff) - recalled. He particularly welcomed, during a meeting with the press following the meeting, that the planning of the operation was on the right track. The Operation Plan (OpPlan) is almost ready and still needs to be approved. Then " we are going to start the force generation conference he explained. The politico-military group must approve the "main messages" of this mission. But the reality is there. This operation remains, again and again, dependent on an agreement from the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA/OCHA), an office which has no intention of making this request. " There is a political condition that has not yet been fulfilled commented the general laconically, refusing to “ speculate "(while I asked him how he saw the situation there)" We must have a request or we must have a new resolution he just wanted to add.
The sign of a congenital weakness
This decision, not followed by effect, virtual in a way, is a first in the Europe of Defense. Sometimes the European Union decided not to intervene, for various reasons (cf. in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s or more recently in the Congo in 2009) or it took a little time to deploy (EUNavfor Atalanta). Sometimes, too, it was decided and deployed in record time (EUMM Georgia). This time, for Libya, the operation was indeed designed in record time. Then nothing ! Because we took care to put the condition that made the operation almost impossible to start: the agreement of OCHA, the Office of Humanitarian Affairs of the United Nations.
It is also necessary to underline how extraordinary this condition is, from several points of view. Usually, the EU - political organization - links its intervention to the request either of a member state or of the UN - the general secretariat - another political organization. This is the first time that it has made its intervention conditional on a request from a single UN agency which, on the one hand, is not really the only one to intervene in a conflict nor the most capable of assessing the situation. Because OCHA is an organization which is not stingy with contradictions, which took time to be present on the ground, and which, above all, at the first somewhat untimely shot (the demonstrations in Tripoli), took the powder to flee to take refuge in Tunis. It therefore no longer has the right to refuse EU intervention.
Contrary to what OCHA says, the NGOs and the UN agencies are not in fact capable on their own, without military assistance and protection, of arriving safely, notably in Misrata. One cannot deny today that the supply in Misrata is thus blocked at the same time by the mining of the port and the bombardments of the troops of Kadhafi and that it weighs possible risks (the opposition speaks about chemical threats). We also cannot deny the overflows on the Tunisian border, on which it is important to be present in a preventive way. In short, it seems urgent to change... his tune.
Having skilfully conditioned this EUFOR mission to a condition impossible to achieve, some Europeans have certainly given themselves a good reason for not launching the mission. But above all they ridiculed the role of the European Union. It seems today at the turn of events, worrying, necessary to bounce back, otherwise. Either the 27 decide to review the EU decision by removing the outdated provisions (which do not relate to any European or international rule or convention) in the light of the evolution of the field and . Either they set up another mission more in line with European possibilities, a civilian observation mission or at the borders of Libya such as EUMM or EUBAM. It is not too late. But we must not delay any longer.
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