By John Irish
PARIS (Reuters) – France will seek to convince some of its allies to look at a more European-focused defence strategy rather than a German-led effort to jointly procure air defence systems, some from outside Europe, when Paris hosts about 20 countries later on Monday.
Germany upset France last October when it announced a plan with 14 NATO allies to purchase systems, including from the U.S. and Israel, in a drive to protect allied territory from missile attacks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Since then some 17 countries, including the Baltic states, Britain and several eastern European powers, which have traditionally turned to the United States for military hardware, have now signed up.
Germany left the door open to France to enter the group by adding the Franco-Italian-made MAMBA system to the possible list of air defence systems available for Sky Shield members. But France has declined to join and the issue has turned into a bone of contention between Berlin and Paris.
France says that in the long run the European Union needs to have its own strategic autonomy rather than relying specifically on the United States through NATO. Key to that would be building up the European defence industry and buying within the EU. France is among the world’s largest arms exporters.
“There is a need for a collective, strategic rethink between Europeans to take into account the threat from the air,” a French defence ministry source said, adding that Sky Shield had its limits.
“The question is where do you want to place the cursor between speed and sovereignty? The goal is not to lecture our partners but to sit around the table and discuss.”
The source said the discussion needed to go beyond air defence to look at threat analysis, the mix between defensive, offensive and anti-drone capabilities, and the nuclear umbrella.
The German defence ministry did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Only 11 ministers were attending Monday’s meeting, coming three days after a NATO defence ministers gathering, though German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius was due to participate, contrary to earlier expectations, diplomats said.
Germany perceived a major gap in air defences all over Europe after Russia invaded Ukraine and, fearing an all-European solution could take decades, decided to go for proven off-the-shelf systems for Sky Shield, such as the U.S. Patriot built by Raytheon and the newer German IRIS-T system.
Ukraine has acquired some IRIS-Ts from Germany as it scrambles in the face of shortages to obtain as many Western air defence units as it can to protect cities and critical infrastructures from Russian air strikes.
(Reporting by John Irish; additional reporting by Sabine Siebold; editing by Mark Heinrich)
