The European Union expects Russia to supply it with helicopters for its Chad peace mission despite its dispute with Moscow over Georgia. The 27-nation EU hopes to reach agreement to allow the supply of four Russian transport helicopters in November, EU officials said on Monday, ahead of an EU meeting this week to discuss ways to fill the bloc's military capability gaps.
A chronic shortage of available helicopters forced the EU last year to delay by months a security mission to protect refugees in eastern Chad and Central African Republic. It was finally launched in January but has been criticised by aid groups such as Oxfam for failing to protect refugees. "I had a shopping list. I didn't get everything I needed," the EU's Chad force commander General Patrick Nash said.
He told a news conference talks were at "a very advanced stage" with Russia for the helicopters, which would boost the number of helicopters available to the force by a third.
"That would add to our operational capability and effects on the ground ... With 3,500 troops in an area of operations the size of France, you cannot have enough air assets." A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said that while the Chad mission was not dependent on the Russian helicopters, they would increase its range and the issue showed the need for the EU to boost its own resources.
"There's no doubt about that," Cristina Gallach said, adding this would be a discussion point for EU defence ministers meeting in Deauville, France, on Wednesday. "We don't have a lack of physical helicopters, what we lack is crews that can fly helicopters of different technical characteristics," she said.
"In the case of Chad we are taking the offer of Russia. Probably, hopefully in other missions, we will be able to do it in a different manner. The lack of capabilities is not just a problem for the EU, it's a Nato problem it's a UN problem."
Gallach said she was not aware of any delay caused by the EU's dispute with Russia over the Georgia conflict. In Deauville, EU ministers will discuss a longer-term Anglo-French plan to upgrade Europe's helicopter fleet to allow it to operate in harsh terrain such as in Afghanistan and Chad.