"Als Frankrijk niet verkoopt doen de Spanjaarden of de Nederlanders het." (In any case, concluded Miraillet, if France did not make the sale, the Netherlands and Spain would likely sell similar technology.) Die stelling is te lezen in een door wiki vrijgegeven telex.Het betreft de levering van een helikopter vliegdekschip aan Rusland.
Ik schreef er al een tweetal blogs over.
- Damen in Rusland 29-12-2009
- Damen heeft verloren en de Balten zijn boos 12-02-2010
Het is bijna vanzelfsprekend dat overheden een dergelijk argument gebruiken. Nederland had open en duidelijk bekend moeten maken dat Damen geen toestemming voor levering zou krijgen. Het spanningsgebieden criterium in de wapenexportregelgeving biedt daarvoor voldoende basis. Dan had Frankrijk dit argument niet kunnen gebruiken. Dat moet een volgende keer beter kunnen.
Op wilileaks cablegate vond ik hierover:
¶12. (S/NF) Audibert [Director for Strategic Affairs, Security and Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (France)], noting he was raising his "if-raised" point, brought up the issue of France's potential sale of a helicopter carrier Mistral-class ship to Russia. He asserted that the French had merely agreed to negotiate with Russia on the potential sale, but then argued that sale would be only for the ship without armament systems. Audibert also said that while France understood U.S. concerns over the potential for Russia to use the ship for projection of power, it was important to note that any decision on the issue would, in the end, be political in nature. Miraillet stated that this sale would be a gesture of good will to Russia as France assessed the Russian Navy was in dire condition. In any case, concluded Miraillet, if France did not make the sale, the Netherlands and Spain would likely sell similar technology.
¶13. (S/NF) On Mistral, USD(P) observed the optics and policy behind the sale were perplexing as it would "fly in the face" of President Sarkozy's personal engagement on resolving the Georgia crisis in 2008. She asserted that this sale would send a confusing political signal to Russia as well as to other Europeans. U/S Burns concurred with USD(P), noting the sale would feed Georgia's fears and could lead to an arms race, increasing the chance of miscalculation by one or both sides. USD(P) concluded that while we understood that France wanted to actively engage Russia, the U.S. would prefer that France find a different confidence-building measure than a Mistral sale.
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Er is nog een serie telexen over de levering van de Mistral:
Er is er nog een waarin Nederland wordt genoemd. Nl. in een wat slordige weergave van de woorden van de Georgische minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Vashadze: http://213.251.145.96/cable/2009/11/09TBILISI2025.html
RUSSIA'S ANTICIPATED TRANSFER OF IGLA-S (SA-24)
10 h ago / leaked 2010-12-08 21:09 · 2009-02-14 16:04:00 from Secretary of State · #09STATE14070 · SECRET//NOFORN RR ·
FRENCH MISTRAL SALE TO RUSSIA RAISED AT NATO
Tuesday / leaked 2010-12-06 21:09 · 2010-02-12 10:10:00 from Mission USNATO · #10USNATO67 · CONFIDENTIAL PP ·
U/S TAUSCHER MEETS FM SIKORSKI, MOD KLICH
Tuesday / leaked 2010-12-06 21:09 · 2010-02-10 14:02:00 from Embassy Warsaw · #10WARSAW94 · CONFIDENTIAL OO ·
FRENCH MFA ON RUSSIA, BALKANS, AFGHANISTAN, IRAN,
Tuesday / leaked 2010-12-06 21:09 · 2010-02-22 14:02:00 from Embassy Paris · #10PARIS207 · CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN PP ·
GEORGIA: MISTRAL SALE COULD DESTABILIZE BLACK SEA
Tuesday / leaked 2010-12-06 21:09 · 2009-11-19 12:12:00 from Embassy Tbilisi · #09TBILISI2025 · CONFIDENTIAL OO ·
READOUT OF JANUARY 20 U.S.-FRANCE STRATEGIC DIALOGUETuesday / leaked 2010-11-29 12:12 · 2010-02-17 03:03:00 from Secretary of State · #10STATE13750 · SECRET//NOFORN PP ·
SECDEF GATES'S MEETING WITH FRENCH MINISTER OF DEFENSE HERVE
Tuesday / leaked 2010-11-28 18:06 · 2010-02-12 13:01:00 from Embassy Paris · #10PARIS170 · SECRET//NOFORN RR ·
