A Dutchman at the head of the OpsCenter?
(BRUSSELS2, exclusive) It is finally a Dutch "captain" - and not a general officer - who could take the head of the OpsCenter, the operational center established in Brussels responsible for coordinating the operations of the Union deployed in the Horn of Africa (piracy - Eunavfor Atalanta; military training - Eutm Somalia; and Eucap - maritime capacity building). The name is yet to be confirmed on Friday. The ambassadors of the COPS - the Political and Security Committee - meet again, in fact, to finalize the decision.
According to information collected by B2, the Director of the OpsCenter should be the Captain Ad van der Linde, who was one of the spokespersons for the Dutch Ministry of Defense (Deputy Director of Information) and was until recently involved in the NATO maritime HQ in Northwood for the anti-piracy operation "Ocean Shield ".
If this news is confirmed, some initial conclusions can be drawn, both at the political and operational level. From a political point of view, it can be noted that the EU General Staff would have won its standoff against the Member States. And we can add that he is not a national of one of the countries of the Weimar+ group (Germany, France **, Italy, Spain, Poland), yet a promoter of this idea of a permanent HQ and its substitute, the OpsCenter.
From an operational point of view, we can consider that the role assigned to the OpsCenter should be limited and lack autonomy, both in relation to the General Staff and in relation to the missions. This appointment also has very concrete consequences. A rank and a nationality have a very practical meaning at the military level. The rank of this official will put him concretely under the authority of the Chief of Staff, Van Osh. It's hard to imagine a captain contesting the decisions of a general of the same nationality. Likewise, he will not really be able to impose himself against a rear-admiral - commanding Operation Atalanta - or an alter ego, in rank, a colonel - commanding Operation Eutm Somalia. The OpsCenter does not seem set to shine with a thousand lights... At most, it will be able to play a liaison and coordination role, in the technical sense, not at the strategic or tactical level.
(*) Care must be taken not to immediately translate captain by its meaning "captain". A captain of the Navy is equivalent to a captain of vessel in the French army, or to a colonel in the army. The exact denomination in the Dutch navy is Kapitein ter zee. (**) France has apparently shone by its efficiency multiplying the candidacies, we counted up to three, testifies a diplomat (not tricolor). Which actually didn't have the best effect. There was one official and two unofficial candidates.Read also: