In Florence, Eurofor closes… in indifference
(BRUSSELS2) The headquarters of the European land force "Eurofor", based in Florence (in Italy) will officially close its doors as of July 2. A long awaited closure. Founded in 1995 as part of the Western European Union, this headquarters, which still has 82 soldiers, is no longer really the operational tool we dreamed of. This is explicitly confirmed by an officer (Spanish). " Ievolution of the common defense and security policy of the European Union and the reduction of the military structures of NATO, as well as the adaptation of our external strategy and the current (budgetary) restrictions lead us to this decision he explains.
The International Treaty signed between the four founding countries (Spain, France, Italy, Portugal) has therefore been denounced. But already, a closing ceremony will take place in Florence (Italy) in the presence of the Spanish Chief of Staff - who currently chairs this structure - and representatives of the founding countries. The Euroforce will remain only naval with the maritime headquarters Euromarfor.
Comment: In order to rationalize the workforce, it seems necessary not to keep structures that work in slow motion (to be nice :-)). The Court of Auditors had also recently denounced in a report the functioning of the European bodies, the usefulness of which seemed difficult to justify over the years. At the same time, it would have been useful, rather than abolishing a structure, to go through with the logic that led it and to choose to reinforce the military structures of the Europe of defense supported by three of the four member countries of Eurofor; France, Italy and Spain having signed the "Weimar letter" on the reinforcement of European crisis management structures. So why could this ground headquarters not be provided - in an appropriate legal form (ad hoc, enhanced cooperation, etc.) to the European General Staff?
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