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Lebanon mission, chance to strengthen EU - by Federico Bordonaro
On 11 September, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano praised the mission and exalted Franco-Italian strategic cooperation as proof of the power of diplomacy, and predicted a strengthening of the UN as a result of the initiative. Other observers are looking at the mission - and Franco-Italian cooperation, in particular - as a way to strengthen the EU.
According to international media reports, Paris will send the 57th Artillery Regiment to Lebanon, equipped with anti-air weaponry (the Franco-German mobile short-range surface-to-air missile system, Roland, and the Mistral infrared homing surface-to-air missile), as well as the Leclerc tank, which is considered to be a weapons system with the latest military technology rather than a classic tank. The question is, how exactly is this highly advanced equipment going to be used, and against whom? Even though the drones used by Hizbollah “aren’t at all so sophisticated” and the Shi'ite militia cannot count on helicopters or military aircraft, Brisset said the troops needed the “most sophisticated air defenses," and that the Leclerc tank was necessary to protect against land mines in the region. However, he added, “it’s useless to deny that one of the main worries for European decision-makers is that Israel has a tradition of violating ceasefires. As a consequence, France’s decision to display new generation weapons systems that can guarantee strategic superiority against modern armies may also be interpreted as a warning to Israel.”
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