European Union to consider supplying lethal equipment to Mozambique – AIM report

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European Union to consider supplying lethal equipment to Mozambique – AIM report

3:28 CAT | 22 Sep 2022

Image: Twitter / @MaggioreEU

The European Union (EU) is considering the possibility of supplying Mozambique’s Defence and Security Forces (FDS) with lethal equipment to boost its military capabilities in the fight against terrorism in the northern province of Cabo Delgado.

Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Security and Defence Nathalie Loiseau, announced this at a Maputo press conference on Tuesday that marked the end of a two-day visit to Mozambique.

“The Mozambican authorities are requesting also lethal weapons and this is something that we will have to consider, at least for training, for the soldiers when they are training to have lethal weapons to use and make sure that everything goes well on the ground”, declared Loiseau when asked about the possibility of the EU, to send lethal equipment to Mozambican FDS.

“We will discuss it on Brussels, but it was important for me to hear the request from Mozambican authorities and see the reality on the ground”, she added.

Part of the lethal equipment could be ammunition, because military use a lot during training exercises.

However, Loiseau stresses that the immediate action is to speed up the delivery of non-lethal equipment that the EU recently promised to Mozambique.

She explained that this is quite a new instrument of the EU and there is a need to accommodate between Mozambican expectations, and request and what is available.

Asked about the risk of lethal equipment falling in the wrong hands, Loiseau assured that there were no reasons for concern, because the Mozambican has already made its full commitment that the equipment will be used only in the fight against terrorism.

“We are not forcing anyone it is because of the request of the Mozambican authorities we are here. An important thing is that part of the training is about international law and respect for human rights. It is an added value for the Mozambican military”, she said.

According to Loiseau, there is no doubt that the priority of the Mozambican army is to fight the insurgents, and the situation has improved considerably, though it is still dangerous.

As for the reasons for visiting to Mozambique, Loiseau explained she is heading a seven-member delegation of the European Union Parliament to express solidarity with Mozambique. Indeed, the European Union is one of the major cooperation partners of Mozambique.

“We came and we focused on issues of security, especially the challenge of terrorism that Mozambique is facing in Cabo Delgado. For this reason, we met with the defence minister, with the speaker of the parliament and the president of the committee on defence security and public order of the parliament”, declared Loiseau.

The delegation also visited the town of Chimoio in the central province of Manica, where EU military instructors are training FDS units in the fight against terrorism.

In Chimoio, they met Mozambique’s army chief, who expressed his satisfaction as said he could see the difference on the ground because the military are showing more competences, better coordination and better knowledge on how to behave towards insurgents.

“I have to say that watching the exercise you could see better coordination and knowledge”, said Loiseau.

Thank you President @NathalieLoiseau & @EP_Defence MPs for the fruitful visit to Moz🇲🇿. Your visit to @EUTMMozambique Training Camp and high-level interactions with Mozambique’s institutions will contribute to further strengthening EU-Moz strategic partnership. @Europarl_EN 🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/CwiBzjrTDd

— Antonino Maggiore (@MaggioreEU) September 21, 2022