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When a Breton shakes the European coconut tree, it gives this

(BRUSSELS2 to Riga) True to form, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian did not make the trip to the Latvian capital, where the informal meeting of EU Defense Ministers was held European, for the decorum. In Breton, stubborn but pragmatic, he knows that you shouldn't hesitate to pose the main points of the debate, explain them clearly and... repeat them often. That's to say " animate the debate as diplomats point out. Apparently, the objective was achieved. " We had a 'lively' debate on operations ” acknowledged, with delicacy, the Latvian Minister of Defense, Raimonds Vejonis, who chaired the meeting this Thursday morning (February 19).

Objective: An alert message

Jean-Yves Le Drian had, in fact, a message to convey, clear and strong, as he then explained to journalists (including B2). " I have come to bring a warning message to my European counterparts and friends. An alert on the risk that we will not be there he said. Because the threats for the Europeans are not lacking today » : from Ukraine to Nigeria, via Iraq or Syria, Somalia, the Central African Republic, Niger, Mali, and Libya, etc.

1st observation. You can't choose the threats

“We are facing an unprecedented multiplication of challenges and threats to the security of our fellow European citizens. This threat is not theoretical”. An observation that he is not the only one to point out. At the High Representative of the EU, Federica Mogherini, we share this point of view, as summed up by the number of the European diplomatic service, Maciej Popowski: “ We do not have the choice. We cannot prefer one crisis to another. We must face the risks in the East and in the South ».

2nd observation. France assumes its share of solidarity in the East...

« Since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, France has spared no effort to contribute to military reassurance initiatives for the benefit of its most exposed allies (1), but also to seek a political solution to the crisis. »

... while it is already involved in other fields in Africa...

France intervened first in Mali, then relayed by the other Europeans (within EUTM Mali or MINUSCA, the United Nations force). Ditto in the Central African Republic with the Sangaris operation, supplemented by the EUFOR RCA mission. But the rest of this mission comes up against the same difficulties (Read about the Club: EUMAM RCA, a laborious generation of force (Maj).

... but the Europeans are dragging their feet to take over

For EUMAM RCA, “ 60 military experts must be mobilized, not for a combat mission but for an advisory/training mission. And we find it difficult to bring them together ". And even " of these 60, France already puts 20… see the acuteness of the subject ! ". An important necessity for the Minister “ One can imagine the risks that an CAR would have that would not have a structured army, near northern Cameroon, where Boko Haram exists”.

3rd observation: Acting outside is acting inside. And vice versa

For the Minister, external operations and the fight against terrorism at the internal level are two sides of the same ball. " Today, there is no longer any real separation between internal security and external security. Recent events in Brussels, Paris and Copenhagen have shown this. We must act both on our territories and the territories of crisis” in the world.

Conclusion: The burden of European security must be shared, and fast!

The French minister kindly lectured his partners. " The burden of European security is not evenly distributed. France will continue to play its part, but only a part. We expect our partners to be there as well. » What Jean-Yves Le Drian wants is for the other Europeans to react a little faster than today. It's necessary “to act with greater solidarity at all times and greater capacity for reaction”.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) France had dispatched Rafales for the surveillance of the skies of the Baltic countries in Malbork in Poland, in the spring of 2014 (read: 4 French Rafale present in Malbork. More than a symbol …). Leclerc and VBCI tanks will be dispatched to Poland this spring, in April-May.

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).

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