France puts Mistral warship delivery to Russia on hold
Last edited Wed Sep 3, 2014, 01:04 PM - Edit history (1)
Source: Deutsche Welle
After a meeting of the French defense committee on Wednesday, Paris announced that the deliveries would not yet take place given the current unrest in eastern Ukraine.
"The President of the Republic declared that - despite the prospect of a ceasefire which still remains to be confirmed and implemented - to date, the conditions for France to deliver the first warship are not in place," a statement from the office of French President Francois Hollande read.
The deal, originally struck in 2011, is worth some 1.2 billion euros ($1.6 billion).
Given France's slow economic growth and growing unemployment, putting such a large chunk of change at risk by suspending delivery was likely not a decision taken lightly in Paris. It also comes following a recent reshuffle of Hollande's cabinet.
Read more: http://www.dw.de/france-puts-mistral-warship-delivery-to-russia-on-hold/a-17897817
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MynameisBlarney
(2,979 posts)It's the right thing to do.
lark
(23,099 posts)Guess their MIC isn't in charge like ours is here? 
jakeXT
(10,575 posts)http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/world/middleeast/03wisner.html?_r=0
Documentary proof exists that France’s former President Nicolas Sarkozy took more than €50m from the late Libyan dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, a French judge has been told.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/nicolas-sarkozy-did-take-50-million-of-muammar-gaddafis-cash-french-judge-is-told-8435872.html
Feb 12th 2009 | PARIS | From the print edition
Back to the fold?
Nicolas Sarkozy faces domestic opposition to his decision to return France to NATO’s integrated military command in April
IT WAS in a short but scrupulously polite letter to Lyndon Johnson 43 years ago that Charles de Gaulle announced his decision to pull France out of NATO's integrated military command. His country, the French president wrote to his American counterpart, needed “to recover the full exercise of her sovereignty across her entire territory.” He shut down NATO's headquarters in Paris and expelled American military bases from France. Ever since, the French have seen their semi-detached status in NATO as a guarantor of their strategic autonomy and a totem of their refusal to accept American supremacy.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to reverse de Gaulle's decision and reintegrate France fully into NATO's military command is, therefore, both bold and unsettling. On April 3rd and 4th Mr Sarkozy and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel will jointly host a summit to mark NATO's 60th anniversary. Mr Sarkozy is expected to use the occasion officially to announce France's full return. But he needs to prepare the ground at home for a decision that is contested both by the opposition and by many in his own party. Next week he is expected to make the case in a speech in Paris. The French parliament plans to debate the issue shortly.
For decades, in school textbooks and diplomatic lecture halls, the French have learnt that de Gaulle's decision and the creation of the nuclear force de frappe form the cornerstone of France's independent defence policy. NATO came to be regarded with instinctive distrust, as a place in which America and Britain stitched up deals. For their part, the Americans saw France's plans to build an independent European defence capacity as an effort to undermine NATO and create a rival to what the French have termed American “hyperpower”. Such mutual mistrust reached its zenith under President Jacques Chirac, who repeatedly called for Europe to be a counterweight to America.
http://www.economist.com/node/13109550
KoKo
(84,711 posts)
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)NATO should chip in and buy the damn things from France.
pampango
(24,692 posts)This deal was done when Medvedev was president of Russia. Putin is too nationalistic to have a Western country build a combat ship for the Russian navy. Times have changed. France probably was not going to get any more orders from Russia anyway. This seals that.
former9thward
(31,999 posts)France said it was on hold "for the present time." Also 400 Russian sailors are continuing to train on the ship. This deal will go through as soon as there is a cease fire in Ukraine.
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)Russia doesn't really need a warship urgently but France needs the cash or its economy will tank.
Symbolic move comparable to cutting nose to spite face.
IronGate
(2,186 posts)Most of their blue water Naval vessels, except for a few, are rust buckets that aren't fit to sail the 7 seas.
In any Naval battle against NATO or the US, the Russian Navy would end up on the bottom of the ocean.
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)One ship is going to be enough to go against the NATO/US Navies. You're right.
I'm embarrassed to say I didn't think of that.
IronGate
(2,186 posts)I meant that Russia needs new ships due to the sad state of it's existing Navy and they desperately needed this Mistral ship from the French.
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)When the ship-builders in France don't get their salaries in a few months, everything will be alright. In my experience, food trumps politics when one is hungry.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)Do they really? That isn't what they're saying:
"This is not a tragedy, though of course the news is unpleasant. It will not affect our armament plans. We will act in accordance with international laws and the statutes of the contract," said Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov, in a statement.
http://rt.com/news/184848-france-mistral-delivery-russia/
IronGate
(2,186 posts)"Yes, we really need this ship because our Navy is shit".
Of course they're going to say it's not a big thing. they're not going to admit that their ships are not combat capable, although I'm sure US intelligence knows just what kind of shape the Russian Navy is in.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)That's enough "shit" to take out all of Europe, as well as half of North America.
IronGate
(2,186 posts)And you really think they'll use them?
Those are weapons of the last resort, and you can bet that we (the US) have hunter/killer subs tracking each and every one of those Typhoons, at least the ones that are still seaworthy.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)You might first want to consider that his nuclear response forces are what President Putin has been spending much of Russia's defense budget on for years now.
Don't bet your life, or the lives of those you care about, on "feel good" reasoning.
IronGate
(2,186 posts)The US still has the most capable hunter/killer subs and you can bet the farm that each of Russia's SSBN subs are trailed and targeted by either an LA, Virginia, or Seawolf class sub.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)Except that if only one of the Russian subs manages to launch its missiles they could take out Washington D.C., as well as the rest of the major cities in the middle Atlantic region.
That is a high price to pay for arrogance and hubris regarding our capabilities.
IronGate
(2,186 posts)And I can say with confidence that if any of those subs showed any signs of a launch, they'd be sent to the bottom of the ocean really quick.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)Your certainty of that, however, is not something I'm willing to bet millions of lives on.
IronGate
(2,186 posts)I have a relate serving on an Virginia class attack sub and that's SOP in times of hostilities or threat of hostilities.
There is always at least one hunter/killer sub trailing Russian boomers ready to take action in the event of a launch.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)The launch would have happened, right?
IronGate
(2,186 posts)can be launched and the US Navy is well aware of what those actions are and would have torpedos in the water well before the first missile leaves the launch tube.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)The Russian sub might not have been actually launching, but simply running a pre-launch drill, so your cousin would have started a full blown World War over nothing.
Something tells me you are missing a step or two in your explanation of how the scenario would likely play out.
IronGate
(2,186 posts)or outright hostilities.
The bottom line is that unless it's a bolt out of the blue launch, no Russian Typhoon SSBN would survive long enough to fire their missiles.
A lot of the time, the US sub will let the Russian boomer know they're there, to tell them that they are being watched and tracked.
Something tells me you know nothing about submarine ops.
tabasco
(22,974 posts)and blaming it on the evil USA.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)I might blame the US, though, at least if it is our fault I would.
Tarheel_Dem
(31,233 posts)
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)Want to bet they won't change their minds when that time comes? More likely this is merely a NATO Summit publicity stunt.
Do you really think the French Government will just eat the expense of upgrading and readying the ship for delivery to their Russian customers?
Elmergantry
(884 posts)India, China?
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)BRICS have developed an unwritten solidarity because of the colonialist/imperialist threat. In fact, no country would want to be in the bad books of Russia. Maybe Ukraine would buy it with money borrowed from the EU hahahahahahaha. But since Ukraine won't have a coastline in the future, a ship would be completely useless. They would rather want a few Volvo buses for Svoboda and Right Sektor to relocate once the dust settles.
You should be aware of the building distaste for the "white rule" countries* of US, UK, Canada, France, Germany and Australia which are always ganging up on little brown and black skinned people. Even Japan which used to be a solid part of the white gang (allowed membership because of wealth) is slowly distancing itself and PM Abe is deciding to take Japan's destiny in its own hands. The permanent membership of the UN needs serious revamping and more populous countries like India and Brazil should be permanent members. Only a veto by two or more members should then be allowed.
* Even though these countries have minority populations, the power is still in the hands of white people.
another_liberal
(8,821 posts)As the Russian themselves say:
Even if France does now decide to sell the ships to someone else, it will have to refit them, as every aspect, from the helicopter pads to hull alloys is custom-made to Russian specifications.
http://rt.com/news/184848-france-mistral-delivery-russia/
