France will hold direct talks with fellow members of the European Union in a first-ever request for help in defense and security under the EU treaty, as the French counterattack against the Islamic State group will stretch its resources, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.
There is no list of requests, but French forces were already stretched by deployments in the Sahel sub-Saharan region and the Middle East before taking a heightened role in domestic security in response to the IS-ordered attacks last Friday, which killed 129 people in restaurants and a crowded concert hall in the capital. France is at war, President François Hollande has said.
There will be a “bilateral” approach with EU fellow members, Defence Ministry spokesman Pierre Bayle told journalists Thursday. France has invoked article 42.7 of the EU treaty, which calls for “aid and assistance” when a member state has been attacked in its own territory.
France did not invoke article 5 requiring NATO aid. NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is an international alliance that consists of 28 member states from North America and Europe. Of the 28 member countries, two are located in North America (Canada and the United States) and 25 are European countries while Turkey is in Eurasia.
US President Obama has repeated his vow not to send ground troops to fight ISIS.
Canada has promised robust support to France. However, this might only mean not stopping air strikes and adding a few more trainers to the 69 trainers already deployed
By triggering the EU, France gets all of the European aid that they might expect while not putting futile pressure on the USA and Canada. President Obama and Prime Minister Trudeau were not going to make a serious commitment even if NATO was invoked.
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Reposted via Next Big Future
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