Lampedusa: Who will decide to reject the invasion, and when?

6,000 to 7,000 Africans, young men aged between 16 and 30, violently disembarking on a European island has a name: an invasion. Invasions are either surrendered to or repelled. By force.

Clearly, submission has been chosen. The explanation given is obvious: it’s Europe’s fault, or to be more precise, the European Union’s fault. But this is not true. It is not the European Union that has authority over the Italian police, the Italian army, the Italian reception and transport agency. No, it’s the Italian government. Why is the Italian government afraid to act? For fear of Ilva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs and Immigration, who is knitting in the European Parliament? What a joke!

The Italian government is actually afraid of the reactions in the media if force is used. They are afraid of the reactions of public opinion, which has been influenced by the media and fed with humanitarian rhetoric. They are afraid of the judges, who are prosecuting Matteo Salvini for what he did as interior minister. This applies to the Italian government in the same way it applies to the British government (outside the EU) or tomorrow to a French government that wants to take action. The EU is not the cause of our impotence, but a cloak for it. Since we dare not use force – or even mention the use of force – we invoke legal rules. While forgetting that in exceptional cases, the one who decides is sovereign (Carl Schmitt). And what is an invasion if not extraordinary circumstances? Some talk of an “apocalypse”. You can’t just sit back and watch an apocalypse unfold!

Geopoliticians know this. And there is one who has said it. Hubert Védrine, former Secretary General of the Élysée under François Mitterrand and former Foreign Minister under Lionel Jospin and Jacques Chirac, who wrote the following about the migrant flow in 2015:

“Preventing departures by increased control of ships (Operation Triton multiplied by 3), or even a maritime blockade of ports of departure (why not the VI US fleet?) or an ad hoc maritime coalition (like Atalante) and destruction of fleets detected. There is obviously no overarching military solution, but let’s not dream: at some point, the use of force will be inevitable“. – Comptes à rebours: 2013-2018, Fayard, 2018.

It is the last sentence that is crucial: the use of force is inevitable. Everything else is humanitarian pseudo-posturing, legal nonsense and political posturing. If the Europeans do not decide to use force in the face of the invasion, they will go down in history, and future generations, their daughters and sons, will be enslaved. Who will cut the Gordian knot?

Jean-Yves Le Gallou
Traduction : legatum-books.com