CHICAGO, May 21 (Reuters) – French President Francois
Hollande said on Monday France had been asked to contribute a
little less than $200 million for long-term funding to
Afghanistan, but he signaled there would be no commitments until
Paris knew how the money would be managed.
The U.S. administration is unwilling to foot the entire
annual bill to maintain Afghan forces after 2014, which is
estimated at $4.1 billion, and has been seeking pledges from
allies of $1.3 billion, despite austerity measures brought on by
Europe’s financial crisis.
“We will study the request for funding,” Hollande said. “But
we have put a condition to it which is to know whether these
contributions will be efficiently managed.”
Germany already has committed $190 million and Britain $110
million.
“We haven’t set a fixed amount but we are not tied to what
Germany or any other country does,” Hollande said.
Paris will make a decision on its contributions by July.
Socialist Hollande, who made clear during his election
campaign he would not automatically align himself to Western
allies and the United States, vowed at the summit to stick to
his election pledge to withdraw French troops by the year’s end
– two years earlier than the NATO timetable.
Hollande’s team has yet to give a detailed timeline of its
exit plans, although diplomatic sources said the president
planned to provide the calendar within the next 10 days.
With tight budgetary constraints at home, Hollande also said
withdrawing France’s remaining troops could prove costly, making
it difficult to say exactly when all its forces would leave
Afghanistan.
While frontline troops, about 2,000 of its 3,400 strong
contingent, will return by year-end, a portion of the soldiers
will remain to provide support and training operations as well
as securing equipment.
Along with its ground troops, France has 14 helicopters, 900
vehicles and 1,400 containers that would need to be shipped out.
It would need to negotiate authorizations from Uzbekistan and
Pakistan for road passages as well as agreements to hire planes
large enough to carry such loads.
Preliminary estimates of pullout costs for France are about
$150 million, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.
“We will need personnel to bring back our equipment. I don’t
know how long it will take because we have to find routes, the
logistical ways within the right security conditions and we have
to make sure the costs that are not too elevated,” Hollande
said.
