France invokes never-used EU clause to demand support for ISIS battle

French President Francois Holland had decided against roping NATO in to his newly declared "war" on the Islamic State, but France is invoking another mutual defense clause, provision 42-7 from the European Union's Lisbon Treaty, to seek anti-ISIS support from the 28-nation bloc. The never-used clause obliges member nations to give "aid and assistance by all the means in their power" to any fellow EU country that's "the victim of armed aggression on its territory."

Hollande, noting that the 132 victims of ISIS's terrorist attacks in Paris came from at least 19 nations, said Monday that Syria has become "the biggest factory of terrorism the world has ever known, and the international community is still too divided and too incoherent." French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian said EU allies could help "either by taking part in France's operations in Syria or Iraq, or by easing the load or providing support for France in other operations." EU allies have been expressing solidarity with France, but it's not clear if they will back Paris on the mutual defense clause.

"Obviously we will take a careful look at that politically with the French authorities first of all, with the rest of the European institutions including the legal services and obviously we'll come up with a follow-up to that,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said late Monday. "Obviously we have started to work on this." EU foreign ministers will meet to discuss the request on Tuesday.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up