Mozambique: Security, progressing in right direction – EUTM leader

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Mozambique: Security, progressing in right direction – EUTM leader

8:35 CAT | 03 May 2022

FILE - EUTM training camp. [File photo: Lusa]

Vice Admiral Hervé Blejean, in charge of the European Union (EU) military training mission for Mozambican troops, said on Monday that security in Cabo Delgado, north of the country, is progressing “in the right direction” after a visit to the field.

“My impression is that conditions are progressing, namely around the cities, which is what they need,” as well as “in the north, where coordination with SAMIM [Southern Africa mission] and Rwanda will be key for the security assessment. I believe it’s going in the right direction,” said the leader of the EU’s military planning and conduct capability.

The assessment is based “on the discussions” held and “on the impression on the ground.”

“For example, in Pemba, I did not feel insecure,” he stressed in an interview with Lusa and RTP-Africa in Maputo after visiting the province at the invitation of the Armed and Defense Forces of Mozambique (FADM).

Blejean was able to accompany troops of the Southern African Development Community Mission (SAMIM), and despite considering that “a great work is being done with the FADM”, the situation “is still a challenge” with now dispersed insurgents that continue to loot villages and attack civilians.

Blejean said in Maputo he intends to bring to Cabo Delgado the EU training and advisory services based at the bases in Catembe and Maputo, two thousand kilometres to the south (at the opposite end of Cabo Delgado), and also in Chimoio, central Mozambique.

“I will advocate the member states to open the mission area to Cabo Delgado, respecting the non-executive mandate,” meaning “it is not a combat mandate.”

Such an extension would allow a more effective “link to the ground” and conduct dedicated training in Pemba for certain units in action, in a more flexible model, as already happens in other EU missions in Africa.

When the EU decided in 2021 to accept the request to train Mozambican troops, bases were chosen outside Cabo Delgado due to insecurity in the province, at the time still without SAMIM or Rwandan troops.

But the situation “has improved”, and Blejean hopes that the EU countries will soon authorise this extension in the mandate.

He stressed that African forces are reliable security partners on the ground, also calling for their funding.

“There is interest from member states to dedicate money from the European Peace Facility to support SAMIM, and discussions are continuing,” he noted.

“It’s not giving them money to do whatever they want. It’s giving them equipment and other things they need through that mechanism: I’m confident that member states will agree to support SAMIM that way,” he detailed.

The mechanism is the same one that finances the EUTM and through which the first batch of equipment should arrive in June for Mozambican troops to be equipped after training: complete equipment, from helmets to boots, vehicles and other non-lethal components.

“Funding is crucial in these matters. The eleven rapid reaction companies that we are training will all be equipped, thanks to EU funding,” of €89 million, he stressed, in line with the announcements that have been made.

During his visit to Cabo Delgado last week, Blejean was in Macomia, a village in the centre of the province that has been taken over by rebels more than once and is now considered a safe zone.

But on the outskirts, there is still fear. The European military leader passed by the village of Quinto Congresso (named after the former main meeting of the Liberation Front of Mozambique) that had been attacked the day before, causing several injuries, proof that “the challenges” persist, he said.

Blejean was in Pemba, the provincial capital, where he visited the naval base and followed in a South African helicopter to Macomia, flying over “bushes and forests” where the groups “can still hide”.

He saw positive signs with companies doing their security assessments and believed that the return of investment, promoting employment, would be a turning point.

But the answer as to when this will happen, namely regarding the gas projects suspended a year ago (after the Palma attack), has not yet been made public.

Source: Lusa