Brussels, 11/09/2014 (Agence Europe) - In a letter to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and France's President François Hollande that was made public on 10 September at the initiative of Tunne Kelam MEP (EPP, Estonia), 22 MEPs hailed the decision to suspend delivery of the first Mistral helicopter carrier to Russia. “This will help to overcome a certain moral and political inconsistency of the EU policies regarding the Russian invasion of its neighbouring state” in Ukraine, stated the MEPs - mostly from the EPP, but also from the S&D, ALDE and ECR Groups. Aware of the “financial and political” impact for France, the MEPs (from 15 member states) called on Van Rompuy and Hollande “to consider a positive alternative”.
In the MEPs' view, the EU “made up of 28 member states, should itself procure the Mistral vessels. These two ships could provide a nucleus for a future EU Maritime Rapid Reaction Force”. The Mistrals could equally be used “to support Frontex operations to address the flow of illegal immigrants in the Mediterranean”. “Such a solution could give the Mistral issue a positive and constructive drive, both by applying the principle of EU solidarity to France and by giving new common answers to challenges for European external and internal security as a whole”, they added.
The MEPs also hoped that an “absolute ban of arms deliveries from EU nations to Russia will be implemented during the next days”.
No French MEP signed the letter. According to a source from the European Parliament, the French EPP delegation did not wish to take part - although it backs suspending delivery.
On 3 September, the French Presidency stated that “the conditions for France to authorise delivery of the first landing helicopter dock (LHD) [were] not met”. Delivery has been suspended until November. Signed in 2011, the contract for delivering the LHDs is worth €1.2 billion. Should it be broken, Paris is expected to pay penalty charges. (CG)