Authored by Jason Ditz via AntiWar.com,
It may sound like a bad adventure movie, but the French Foreign Legion (a French force comprised of foreign nationals) could find itself in Yemen trying to stabilize and control areas. Recent fighting and exchanges of government figures in South Yemen’s Shabwa Province could be portending a deeper involvement, as France is reportedly negotiating for access to the area.
France is interested in the potential of gas exports from Balhaf. Europe could use more exports with the Russia War restricting supply to central Europe.
Though Yemen isn’t a large exporter of gas in the best of times, it virtually exports nothing during the ongoing war. France seems keen to try to boost it from nothing to something.
Yemen’s former Foreign Minister, Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, indicated the French Foreign Legion may have already arrived in Yemen’s Shabwah province:
The former minister said that there are French "preparations being made to export gas from the Balhaf facility … in light of increased international gas prices," and in an attempt to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian fuel amid the global energy crisis exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine.
With all the complications and combatants in Yemen, especially in the south, adding the French Foreign Legion hardly seems to be a recipe for success.
The French Foreign Legion is an Army corps of foreign nationals, historically used in French overseas adventures. They have been used sparingly in the decades since the end of colonial Africa. French commandos at a French base in Gao, Mali, file image.
It remains to be seen who France aligns with, as the Saudis and UAE are the powers in the region in the question. The Saudis support the government, the UAE the separatists, and generally the UAE has prevented exports from Shabwa lately, though it isn’t clear they’re committed to that.
Much of the media coverage of Shabwa fighting has emphasized its energy resources, seemingly bolstering interest in intervention. Though it is unlikely they’ll ever get gas out commensurate with the cost of entering Yemen, such an obvious problem rarely gets in the way of such operations.