The recent conclusion of a defense assistance agreement signed between France and Greece, laid the foundations for a new alliance in which other EU member states are expected to enter in the future, such as Spain, Italy, Austria, etc., being the first core of the EU Joint Armed Forces for EU security and defense.
France is waging a very difficult struggle in North Africa, and especially in the Sahel, against radical jihadist terrorist organizations that are oppressing the Sahel countries (please read the analysis entitled “The Sahel in Africa is Burned by Jihadists“).
The proper assistance of Greece to France
France is already one of Greece’s two largest lenders, is a NATO ally and a member of the Eurozone / EU, as is Greece. Alliances between countries, as well as friendships between people, are not sealed with purchases of defense equipment and invoices and consignment notes. Alliances, like friendships, are sealed with Sweat in peace and Blood in war.
An alliance, like a friendship, has obligations. France requested the help of Greece in Mali and the countries of the Sahel. France is fighting fanatical Islamists to prevent the destabilization of the Sahel Zone, home to 200 million people. If the Islamist radical movement in Africa and Asia is not eliminated, then all these millions of migratory flows will have to be tackled at the border and within the EU.
Only a stabilization of the situation in North Africa and the Middle East will stop the flow of migrants to Europe. And this means that France, along with other EU member states and Greece, will have to act both in the Congo, in the Central African Republic, in Liberia, in Sinai, in Iraq, in Libya and in Lebanon.
Greek society and the Greek political world must escape ideological entanglements. The cost of a mission abroad can be kept low and the staff of the Greek Army would be very happy to go on such a mission. A mission of 500 people of the Greek Special Forces with accompanying logistics and with armor, helicopters and planes and all their necessary equipment in the Sahel area would help the most, both Greece and mainly France.
The benefits are many for Greece, and beyond the political and diplomatic benefits, because the participants will gain valuable military experience. They will learn new tactics in different battle environments and build interpersonal relationships with their allies.
Two Captains of the Special Forces and the Artillery respectively in the Sahel Zone, tomorrow will be two Chiefs of Staff of the Greek Army. Let the Greek people think that 250 thousand Turkish soldiers have gained enormous experience in guerrilla warfare by fighting the Kurdish rebels of the PKK for decades.
G-5 Sahel and EU
The European Expeditionary Force (Takuba Task Force), led by France, the EU’s only nuclear power, is cooperating with the G5 countries Sahel-Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Nigeria. The Takuba Task Force includes EU member states such as Sweden, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Estonia. So why is Greece missing?
The correct response of Greece
The Greek government should immediately seek information on the shortcomings of the Takuba Task Force, and consider how it can help. Then the wishes of France should be examined and an in-depth assessment should be made by the Greek government of what can be offered to France.
Greece can then provide:
- Αerial means, with their crews for transport of personnel and wounded (medevac).
- Greece has a number of unused NH-90 helicopters. He will have to bring them in a state of disarray and make them available to the Takuba Task Force.
- Greece can send a fully equipped Battalion of special forces with all their defense equipment and logistics, to fight alongside their French colleagues.
- Greece can allocate four Mirage 2000 and a corresponding number of helicopters to support this battalion of its special forces.
Greece will have to prove in practice that it is the value of France’s friendship, sharing the same hardships with France and not just buying French products or selling its own products to it.
“The thinking of the Greeks, but also of all Europeans, must be with the French soldiers, to these heroes who, under extremely difficult conditions, give their fight in the Sahel Zone, so that all European citizens have fewer problems. We wholeheartedly wish them good luck in their difficult task and safe and fast return to their families “.
