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Defence Minister rejects calls for French withdrawal

Article published on the 2008-09-23 Latest update 2008-09-23 12:09 TU

Afghan soldiers receiving training from coalition forces in Kabul.(Photo : S. Malibeaux/RFI).

Afghan soldiers receiving training from coalition forces in Kabul.
(Photo : S. Malibeaux/RFI).

French Minister of Defence, Hervé Morin, spoke to RFI after parliament passed a motion to continue the mandate of French troops in Afghanistan on Monday. He told RFI that progress was being made in the country and that France's position in the UN and the EU would not allow for the withdrawal that the French far-left has called for.

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"How can one think, even for a second, of withdrawal", Morin asked in response to calls from France's far left for French troops to be pulled out of Afghanistan. Citing France's membership of the UN Security Council, he pointed out that the Council has approved the mandate for the International Security and Assistance Force in Afghanistan every year of its existence.

"For a permanent member of the Security Council, and the holder of the European Union presidency, to say 'I'm pulling out' would ruin the efforts of the international community", Morin said.

He was speaking after France's Socialist Party voted against a parliamentary motion on Monday which extended the mandate of French troops in Afghanistan. The motion was passed by the right-wing and centrist parties of the Assembly, but socialists said their oppositon was intended to underline the need for a new strategy. "Where are their proposals for a new strategy?" he asked, claiming that internal division in the party was causing it to focus on foreign policy issues.

Responding to calls for a "political rather than military" solution, he asked how communications and educational infrastructure could be established in Afghanistan "if you don't first have stability and security". He went on to highlight the progress made in establishing basic services, citing 4,000km of roads built and six million Afghan children in school.

Asked about President Sarkozy's statement, during the French presidential campaign, that "the presence of French soldiers in this region of the world is not decisive", Morin said the remark held, but that the soldiers weren't decisive "in the long term".