Hello,
I'm a newcomer to this forum and I'd like to draw your attention and interest to my URL:
http://paginas.pavconhecimento.mct.p.../Mario_Zanatti
and the ensuing forum discussion for any interested party at the following:
http://cervens.net/legionbbs//showth...hp?t=34&page=1
Regards,
Zigliara

Uh well seeing as it was only with a huge effort that Europe even decided on the Euro, I don't think this will be happening anytime soon. Certainly not from the comments at that forum. The German bashing there really irritated me too.

The UN could use something like this.
But of course they don't have the money.

If there was German-bashing in the cervens.net forum, it was countered by my successive comments.

The German legionnaires played an important role in the identity and battles of the FFL. 'Anne Marie' of the 2eREI, Nîmes, is entirely a German song and sung while standing to attention at regimental venues.

The Franco-German tandem was/is the powerhouse of the EU. Chancellor Kohl's steady and unwavering political resolve was the cornerstone to the Euro. Successive French governments qualified their support thoughout the process. A similar political will is needed to raise this unit. However, unlike the Euro, I fear that a deep crisis in the direction of the United Nations is a prerequisite before such a unit is envisaged.

Re-financing, the EUMember-states would finance individual platoons and the regimental costs would be alternated with Member-states with regimental posts.

Thank you for your comments and interest.

Can I just state a point:

There is a reason why the French Foriegn Legion don't actually get out alot.

They are dead strict and very aggressive. They kill and leave the bodies to be cleared up by any1 who is not them.

They are uncontrolable, so to this effect would this be a good idea for the rest of Europe to copy?

If your just going for a legion then great.

But like it has been said before, it took a long time for the Euro to come into play, yet UK will not take it. So what makes this better?

Originally Posted by the_13th_redneck

The UN could use something like this.
But of course they don't have the money.

If the UN had this I would bet they would be used incorrectly. I can't personally see the UN using an aggressive Legion type unit anyway. The French seem to use the Legion only for places they don't want to send their own to anyway, which a lot of the time are missions that are too aggressive for the UN's sanctions.

Thanks for your responses and continued interest.

There are valid points here regarding representation by legionnaires. There is no doubt that the application of such a unit in UN-peace-keeping missions needs careful selection of legionnaires so that there is no misrepresentation of the European Union to begin with and then the FFL. Let's say selection of legionnaires with verifiable personality-type Bs than personality type-As. This would be followed by conditioned awareness of legionnaires on the precise role of the regiment.

If you read my last post in the cervens.net forum, I mention some 'checks-and-balances' in the concept with 'imbedded' EUpol-UNCivpol police officer teams in peace-keeping patrols. This is a step-up from the 'imbedded' reporters in the recent Iraq war.

The police officers would be accountable to the UN Ombudsman already in place so that there is no mistreatment of civilians but also disarmed civilians. This disposition addresses one of the difficulties involved in current peace-keeping, when national governments do not like UN oversight how a UN-mandate is implemented by national soldiers. Such oversight is deemed 'difficult' at best and 'unwanted' at worst for it impinges on 'national sovereignty' and the projection of the Nation-state involved. Also, national public opinion is unwilling to put their soldiers' lives on the block when the national self-interest is not clearly identified. This was the case in the Srebrenica scenario in July 1995.

Therefore, there is a need for 'non-national' troops in Srebrenica scenarios when there is a lethal stand-off. Hence, this tentative concept though it is unclear whether this unit could have led to a different outcome.

Originally Posted by Pete031

If the UN had this I would bet they would be used incorrectly. I can't personally see the UN using an aggressive Legion type unit anyway. The French seem to use the Legion only for places they don't want to send their own to anyway, which a lot of the time are missions that are too aggressive for the UN's sanctions.

FFL and Swedish SSG was used in Congo (might still be there) on a UN mission.

Atleast of what I've read.

Very significant for the Swedes to step out of strict neutrality in the first EU peace-keeping mission with a 'robust UN mandate' in Bunya: 'Operation Artémis'...

Could this work even if some EU countries dont ratify the EU constitution?