Chad Ends Defence Pact with France, Signalling a Shift in Regional Alliances

Chad has announced the termination of its defence agreement with France, signaling a major shift in its post-colonial ties. The move, emphasizing sovereignty, comes amid regional reevaluations of French influence and growing partnerships with Russia. While French troops will withdraw in a "harmonious transition," this decision aligns Chad with a broader trend of African nations asserting their independence and diversifying alliances. France faces diminishing influence as nations like Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso also turn away.

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France, Germany and Poland Propose the Weimar Triangle as a New Centrepiece for EU Defence

On 12 February 2024, Berlin, Paris and Warsaw pitched for the Weimar Triangle as the new centrepiece for the EU’s defence (Alipour & Bourgery-Gonse, 2024), aiming to enhance defence capability. Following these discussions, in April, the German defence minister, Boris Pistorius recommended Poland join the ‘Main Ground Combat System’ (MGCS). By June, Poland indicated its willingness to join the Franco-German projects: the ‘Future Combat Air System’ (FCAS) and MGCS projects (Alipour, 2024a). Despite this momentum, defence ministers of Poland and Germany remain silent when journalists ask for more details.In June, France also deepened its military ties with Germany and Poland (Kayali, 2024), indicating growing momentum for defence collaboration within the Weimar Triangle. By aligning national defence priorities, France, Germany, and Poland could play a more substantial role in defence and transform, at some point, the Weimar Triangle into a defence alliance. Historically, the Weimar Triangle has made outstanding achievements. However, cooperation has not been inconsistent during the last decades, with partners experiencing challenges of trust and misalignment. The evolving international landscape, characterised by the intensification of conflict in Ukraine since 2022 and the upcoming United States (US) election, has prompted new developments and investments in European defence cooperation.

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Securing Europe: France’s Defence Strategy Amidst Rising European Industry Growth and Defence Readiness

In the past years, the Mediterranean Sea has become a theatre of both tragedy and lifesaving efforts, as the ongoing migration crisis has prompted a surge in sea rescue operations. Amidst this complex landscape, the Iuventa case stands out as a pivotal case study, representing the challenges faced by humanitarian NGOs engaged in saving lives at sea. This paper explores the legal framework governing sea rescue operations and analyses the legal intricacies and landmark decision of the Iuventa trial before the Italian Court.

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France and Italy take major step to Reach Interoperability of European Land Industries

On 29 April 2024, the Italian Minister of Defence Guido Crosetto and his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu met at the military camp Raffalli in Calvi, Corsica, to sign a Letter of Intent boosting military cooperation between their respective land forces. The two Ministers signed the Letter as part of their commitment to enhance Europe’s defence posture by integrating industrial bases. This partnership allows French and Italian defence companies to share their financial, personnel and technological expertise and build more competitive industrial centres in the domain of Land Forces. By harmonising their standards, equipment, procedures and training protocols during joint operations and missions, the two countries will enhance the effectiveness of Europe’s ground defence capabilities (Ministère des Armées, 2024).

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Sweden Strengthens Military Ties with France

On 31 January 2024, Sweden and France signed an agreement to deepen their partnership, engage in strategic dialogue on security and defence issues, expand cooperation in the field of research and development and advance their overall defence capabilities (Government of Sweden , 2024b). The cooperation extends to their armament industries and includes the production of essential supplies such as ammunitions, propellants, and explosives, thus rendering the European defence technological and industrial base more innovative, competitive, and resilient (Government of Sweden , 2024b). It is worth mentioning that France-Sweden defence cooperation is well- established, dating back to September 2021, when the two issued a joint declaration of intent concerning intensified defence cooperation in international operations and material provision (Government of Sweden , 2024a). Furthermore, in April 2023, they signed a framework arrangement to develop a common, improved version of a medium-range missile, paving the way for further collaboration in anti-tank missiles (Shepard News Team, 2024).

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