By MATTHEW SALTMARSH
May 27, 2009
May 27, 2009
PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy opened France’s first military facilities in the Gulf on Tuesday, deepening the government’s alliance with the United Arab Emirates and highlighting its shifting foreign policy priorities.
Mr. Sarkozy attended a ceremony to open French naval, air and army facilities in Abu Dhabi. The bases are the first permanent French military installations to be built outside of French territory since the process of decolonization began more than half a century ago.
The Gulf is of geopolitical importance both because of its gas and oil resources and because of its proximity to Iran. Abu Dhabi sits just 225 kilometers, or 140 miles, directly across the Gulf from Iran.
“The permanent French military installation in Abu Dhabi shows the responsibility that France, as a global power, agrees to assume with its closest partners, in a region that is a fault line for the whole world,” Mr. Sarkozy said in the text of a speech delivered in the Emirate.
The new military presence comprises a French facility at the Emirate’s Al Dhafra air base, which can accommodate Mirage and Rafale jets; a naval base of eight hectares, or about 20 acres, at the port of Mina Zayed, which can handle any French naval vessels except aircraft carriers, though these can berth in a nearby port; and an army camp at Zayed, specializing in urban combat training. There are also intelligence-gathering facilities.
Eventually, about 500 French military personnel will be permanently stationed at the sites.
France’s main military base serving the Gulf region is in Djibouti, a former colony on the mouth of the Red Sea, which serves as a hub for its operations against pirates. Mr. Sarkozy said the new facilities would not affect the French presence in Djibouti.
France signaled a strategic policy shift last summer with a government “White Paper,” which sought to better prepare the country for a world in which conventional military threats are being replaced by a multitude of complex, global risks. The paper also identified a strategic geographical axis of priorities from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.
This was a rejection of the policies set under former President Charles de Gaulle, which stressed the independence of French foreign policy.
Under Mr. Sarkozy, France has rejoined the military command of NATO, has sent troops to Afghanistan and has joined the international effort at protecting vital shipping lanes in the Gulf.
“This initiative continues a longstanding cooperation between France and the Emirate, while also allowing France to extend its reach in a very strategic region,” said Denis Bauchard, a senior fellow at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris.
The former presidents François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac deepened cooperation with Abu Dhabi through arms sales. Paris and Abu Dhabi also signed bilateral defense accords in 1991 and 1995, which were updated Tuesday.
Mr. Sarkozy also hopes that his trip will help secure the sale of Dassault Rafale jet fighters to replace Mirage 2000s in the Emirates Air Force, as well as satellite equipment and a civilian nuclear contract. France has been unable to sell the Rafale abroad, due in part to fierce international competition, especially from Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Falcon.
The new French facilities were originally agreed upon in mid-2007 after an approach by the Emirate. The project has been managed by the Élysée Palace. Abu Dhabi, the wealthiest and most influential of the Emirates, paid for the installations.
The United States remains the major foreign military presence in the Gulf with strategic air bases, logistics operations and the headquarters of the 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
The agreement with France represents an insurance policy while the United States scales back in the region as the conflict in Iraq winds down, analysts said.
Last week, Tehran said that it had successfully tested a “Sajil” missile, a surface-to-surface weapon with a range of 2,000 kilometers. The reported launching followed efforts by the Obama administration to seek a new relationship with Tehran to forestall a nuclear program that Western countries allege is designed to build a nuclear bomb.
Separately, Mr. Sarkozy also used the two-day trip to press for talks between oil producers and consumers to find “a satisfactory level” for crude to avoid the “erratic movements” of prices seen last year. Such talks could cover stocks, transport, technology, the organization of markets and speculation.
Mr. Sarkozy said he planned to propose a mechanism at a summit of the Group of 8 leaders in Italy in July.
“Why don’t we agree, producer countries and consumers, on general price guidelines to give to the market, I would say even a price range which would guarantee investments over the long term but which would not overwhelm consumer economies,” he said during the speech.
His trip also included a visit to the future site of a branch of the Louvre Museum in the Emirate.
Mr. Sarkozy attended a ceremony to open French naval, air and army facilities in Abu Dhabi. The bases are the first permanent French military installations to be built outside of French territory since the process of decolonization began more than half a century ago.
The Gulf is of geopolitical importance both because of its gas and oil resources and because of its proximity to Iran. Abu Dhabi sits just 225 kilometers, or 140 miles, directly across the Gulf from Iran.
“The permanent French military installation in Abu Dhabi shows the responsibility that France, as a global power, agrees to assume with its closest partners, in a region that is a fault line for the whole world,” Mr. Sarkozy said in the text of a speech delivered in the Emirate.
The new military presence comprises a French facility at the Emirate’s Al Dhafra air base, which can accommodate Mirage and Rafale jets; a naval base of eight hectares, or about 20 acres, at the port of Mina Zayed, which can handle any French naval vessels except aircraft carriers, though these can berth in a nearby port; and an army camp at Zayed, specializing in urban combat training. There are also intelligence-gathering facilities.
Eventually, about 500 French military personnel will be permanently stationed at the sites.
France’s main military base serving the Gulf region is in Djibouti, a former colony on the mouth of the Red Sea, which serves as a hub for its operations against pirates. Mr. Sarkozy said the new facilities would not affect the French presence in Djibouti.
France signaled a strategic policy shift last summer with a government “White Paper,” which sought to better prepare the country for a world in which conventional military threats are being replaced by a multitude of complex, global risks. The paper also identified a strategic geographical axis of priorities from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean.
This was a rejection of the policies set under former President Charles de Gaulle, which stressed the independence of French foreign policy.
Under Mr. Sarkozy, France has rejoined the military command of NATO, has sent troops to Afghanistan and has joined the international effort at protecting vital shipping lanes in the Gulf.
“This initiative continues a longstanding cooperation between France and the Emirate, while also allowing France to extend its reach in a very strategic region,” said Denis Bauchard, a senior fellow at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris.
The former presidents François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac deepened cooperation with Abu Dhabi through arms sales. Paris and Abu Dhabi also signed bilateral defense accords in 1991 and 1995, which were updated Tuesday.
Mr. Sarkozy also hopes that his trip will help secure the sale of Dassault Rafale jet fighters to replace Mirage 2000s in the Emirates Air Force, as well as satellite equipment and a civilian nuclear contract. France has been unable to sell the Rafale abroad, due in part to fierce international competition, especially from Lockheed Martin’s F-16 Falcon.
The new French facilities were originally agreed upon in mid-2007 after an approach by the Emirate. The project has been managed by the Élysée Palace. Abu Dhabi, the wealthiest and most influential of the Emirates, paid for the installations.
The United States remains the major foreign military presence in the Gulf with strategic air bases, logistics operations and the headquarters of the 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
The agreement with France represents an insurance policy while the United States scales back in the region as the conflict in Iraq winds down, analysts said.
Last week, Tehran said that it had successfully tested a “Sajil” missile, a surface-to-surface weapon with a range of 2,000 kilometers. The reported launching followed efforts by the Obama administration to seek a new relationship with Tehran to forestall a nuclear program that Western countries allege is designed to build a nuclear bomb.
Separately, Mr. Sarkozy also used the two-day trip to press for talks between oil producers and consumers to find “a satisfactory level” for crude to avoid the “erratic movements” of prices seen last year. Such talks could cover stocks, transport, technology, the organization of markets and speculation.
Mr. Sarkozy said he planned to propose a mechanism at a summit of the Group of 8 leaders in Italy in July.
“Why don’t we agree, producer countries and consumers, on general price guidelines to give to the market, I would say even a price range which would guarantee investments over the long term but which would not overwhelm consumer economies,” he said during the speech.
His trip also included a visit to the future site of a branch of the Louvre Museum in the Emirate.
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