News Feed nº8
European sanctions on Belorussia and Turkey
On September 31st, the European Union agreed during a EU summit to impose sanctions to 40 of Belarusian officials, at the exception of President Lukashenko. These sanctions are announced almost 2 months after the official election result.
They also took actions forward concerning the Mediterranean Sea issues by conditioning a migration and trade agenda with Turkey to their stopping of “illegal activities vis à vis Greece and Cyprus”.
This summit highlighted some tensions, with Cyprus conditioning any sanctions against Belarus to stronger actions against Turkey.
Following the summit, J. Borrell, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs, published a statement calling for an evolution of the unanimity rule that prevails in foreign policy and security affairs. Opening the debate with several possibilities, he concluded that “there is a great and urgent need for the EU to protect its capacity to act in a dangerous world”.
Operational collaborations
- Combined missions for the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe in Estonia. In the frame of the Baltic Air Policing in Estonia, the Luftwaffe and the RAF will conduct missions together and exploit this training to improve their interoperability. This debrief will focus not only on the tactics, but also on logistics infrastructures deployed and technical procedures. The goal of this 3 years process is to eventually stand up a mixed British-German detachment in 2021.
- Latouche-Tréville French anti-submarine frigate joins the Irini Operation. The Latouche-Tréville frigate has joined for 5 weeks the Greek frigate HS Limnos in the Irini operation ensuring the respect of the UN weapon embargo on Lybia. The previously deployed multi-mission Italian frigate ITS Margottini went back to Italy following Covid-19 cases. Previously testing a fixed-wing aerial drones near Cyprus, the frigate may use this system to collect information, replacing the Lynx helicopter recently withdrawn from service.
- The Aquitaine French frigate and the Nordrhein-Westfalen German frigate conducted exercises in the Baltic Sea. They realised a refuelling exercise, and trained to sharing their tactical situation.
Short victory in the vote for Switzerland aircraft acquisition
On September 27th, the Swiss people approved at a short majority (50.1%, 9000 votes) the purchase of new fighter jets by the Swiss Air Force. A previous consultation in 2014 for the purchase of Gripen aircrafts led a majority to refuse the deal. Therefore, the latest consultation addressed only the question of purchasing any new fighters for 6 billions dollars.
The short victory could be due to two factors : first, the argument that a counter-air defence is useless for Switzerland, surrounded by other European countries that are in capacity of intercepting hostile aircrafts before they enter the Swiss sky. Second, its cost in the pandemic context.
Four models are competing to replace the ageing F-5 Tiger and F/A-18 jets fleet : the Lockeed-Martin F-35, the Boeing’s Super Hornet, Dassault’s Rafale and Airbus’s Eurofighter Typhoon.
A few days after the vote, the American administration, namely the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, in charge of military export, published a positive recommendation for the Congress to authorize the deal.
Industrial and acquisition projects
- Launch of the ENTRUSTED project for secure satellites communications for governments
On September 15th, the European Commission launched a project implemented by almost 20 institutions representing EU member states and EU agencies. For a EUR 3 million budget, ENTRUSTED will identify needs and requirements for secure satellite communication end-users by February 2023. This aims to provide recommendations for the EU GOVSATCOM program.
- Egyptian Navy acquires two frigates to Italy
According to journalistic news, the Egyptian Navy has ordered two Multi-Mission Frigates to Italy. The acquisition, already on the table, has been accepted by the Italian military equipment export agency. The Egyptian Navy already operates the French “Tahya Misr” frigate.
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