UAE | Government
French military base part of strategic ties
The UAE and France have signed a military cooperation agreement under which France will set up a permanent military base of up to 500 troops in the UAE.
- Gulf News Report
- Published: 08:12 January 17, 2008
- Image Credit: Gulf News
- French President Nicolas Sarkozy told journalists that France responds to its friends while in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Paris: The UAE and France have signed a military cooperation agreement under which France will set up a permanent military base of up to 500 troops in the UAE.
French Defence Minister Herve Morin described the French military base to be set up in the UAE as a strategic partnership to preserve stability in the region.
With this base, France will participate in the strategic development of the UAE, which has adopted a policy based on traditions, Islam and its wish for modernity, Morin told Gulf News exclusively.
“For France, this issue relates to developing a strategic partnership that allows us to participate in the region's stability,'' Morin told Gulf News, following a French Cabinet meeting in Paris.
“It is about establishing a base to support the joint French forces, which will receive military supplies that we send regularly to Gulf countries,'' he said. “This is the natural outcome of the joint defence agreement signed in 1995,'' he said.
On whether the base can be considered a ‘provocation', Morin said: “Not at all. It is only about the necessity of France's existence in the region, which is witnessing major strategic stakes,'' he said.
The military cooperation agreement was signed by Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, and the French Defence Minister. “This agreement mirrors the joint cooperation between the two countries in different fields,'' said Shaikh Abdullah while citing the progressive bilateral relations and growing military cooperation as examples.
“France responds to its friends,'' French President Nicolas Sarkozy told journalists following the signing of the military accord in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
“France and the UAE signed a reciprocal defence accord in 1995. Our friends from the UAE asked that this accord be prolonged and asked that a base be opened.''
The deal is a sign to all that France is participating in the stability of this region of the world, he added. French Vice-Admiral Jacques Mazars, who heads the project, said the base would include elements of the French navy, army and air force.
With inputs from AP
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