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11/20/15

France: All for one: 28 EU states agree on first-ever military support to France

France has invoked an EU treaty collective defense article requesting military help from its European partners in response to the terror attacks in Paris. EU officials say the mutual defense article is being used for the first time.

peaking at a press conference in Brussels on Tuesday, French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said all 28 EU member states unanimously accepted France's formal call for “aid and assistance” under the EU treaty and he expected all to help quickly in various regions, Reuters reports.

“This is firstly a political act,” Le Drian said of the decision to invoke article on mutual defense of the EU treaty.

The minister said France at this time does not have sufficient capabilities to wage several different military operations simultaneously, and expects full military support from its European partners.

“Beyond that, how is this going to work? It may be by cooperating with French interventions in Syria, in Iraq, it may be in support of France in other operations,” Le Drian said, quoted as saying by RTL.

The EU treaty mentions certain security issues, but Paris preferred to resort to mutual defense article instead of using Article 222, the so-called ‘solidarity clause’. It specifically tackles the issue of response to European countries in case of a terrorist attack and requires EU members to “mobilize all the instruments at its disposal, including military resources.”

Read more: All for one: 28 EU states agree on first-ever military support to France — RT News

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