Europe in the Gulf

Press, 7 October 1987, Page 20

Europe in the Gulf

From the “Economist,” London

When the United States started rushing warships towards the Gulf to protect shipping there, people wondered whether Europe would be wimpish by comparison. After some early dithering, it hasn’t been. The French and British navies now have 25 ships between them in or near the Gulf. A flotilla of eight Italian warships is nearly there. By the time a joint Bel-gian-Dutch fleet arrives in midOctober, Western Europe’s navies will have more ships in the region than America, which will soon have about 35. To be sure, the European presence is a mainly small-ship, mlnesweeping-and-escorting one, whereas the Americans (as they demonstrated last month) pack a punch. But nobody can accuse

Europeans in general of holding feebly back. The big exception is West Germany. It has sent no ships to the Gulf, claiming that its constitution prevents it from doing so. In fact, there is nothing in the West German Constitution that would explicitly rule out sending a purely defensive force — minesweepers, for example — but no political party seems keen to press for any involvement in the region. The West Germans have suggested that their navy might take over the work which had been done elsewhere by other countries’ ships now in- the Gulf, but so far little has come of this idea. The Europeans are wary of being seen to be part of an American-led operation. But they

have fewer qualms about cooperating among themselves. The joint Dutch-Belgian fleet is something of a novelty, and it will liaise closely with the British. As it set out this week, the Belgian Defence Minister, Mr Francois-Xavier de Donnier, pointed to it as an example of the sort of integration he hopes will lead, sooner rather than later, to the creation of a “European army.” It is a small start. And the whole Gulf operation would be much more efficient if Europeans worked with Americans. That might have saved the British-flagged tanker, hit north of Bahrain, beyond the present reach of British protection, on September 21. Copyright — The Economist