“Our soldiers are cold and have an empty stomach”: the deputies of the left party “France Unsubdued” Bastien Lachaud and Aurélien Saintoul denounced on Friday “the undignified living conditions of the soldiers deployed in Romania”, revealed by Mediapart, according to Le Figaro.
France is the framework nation for a NATO mission in Romania, which currently includes 350 French soldiers. Paris also plans to deploy a dozen armored infantry fighting vehicles (VBCI) and a dozen Leclerc tanks in the country in the coming weeks.
The mission, launched on February 28 in response to Russian attacks on Ukraine, aims to strengthen the defense of NATO’s eastern flank in the long term. According to the two deputies, “we are facing a serious problem in terms of logistics and support”, the two said in a statement, citing extremely frugal meals, randomly heated tents, the presence of bedbugs or poor sanitation.
These facts “are all the more serious since more than eight months have passed since the French soldiers were deployed in Romania”, they add. “Since this is a deterrent and defensive mission and not a combat one, there can be no excuse for insensitivity,” they said. Bastien Lachaud and Aurélien Saintoul ask: “Besides this, what deterrent message is sent to Russia when our soldiers are cold and hungry?”
They warn that “they will notify the president of the Defense Commission”, of which they are both members. Bastien Lachaud is rapporteur for appropriations for joint support and logistics, and Aurélien Saintoul, secretary of the commission and co-chair of the working group on external operations.
