Mozambique: EU approved military training mission ‘in record time’ – Borrell

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Mozambique: EU approved military training mission ‘in record time’ – Borrell

2:17 CAT | 13 Jul 2021

European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell speaking after a Foreign Affairs Council meeting on July 12, 2021 [Photo: John Thys/AFP ]

The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, has said that the European Union (EU) military training mission in Mozambique was “established in record time” and called on member states to provide it now with “adequate resources”.

“This is the second Common Security and Defence Policy mission that was set up during my mandate, and it was established in record time. In European terms, record time does not mean ‘very quickly’, but it was established faster than any other mission,” Borrell said.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy was speaking at a press conference after the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on Monday which formally approved the launch of an EU military training mission in Mozambique.

Considering that the mission, entitled EUTM Mozambique, will be a “fundamental part” of the EU’s response to the Mozambican authorities’ request for assistance in dealing with the situation in Cabo Delgado, Josep Borrell said that EUTM Mozambique will train “specific Mozambican units” with the aim of “assisting the Mozambican Armed Forces in their efforts to restore security”.

“Now this commitment has to be properly resourced and accompanied by the appropriate assistance measures, so I have asked Member States, once the mission is approved, to provide the means and personnel that this mission will require,” he indicated.

While recognising that EUTM Mozambique will not be “a large mission” like the one the EU has in Mali, Borrell stressed that it is “important that the people who will go to Mozambique to train the Mozambican units are highly qualified military personnel”.

Established in record time, the new EU military training mission, EUTM Mozambique, will train local armed forces to better protect civilians and help in their efforts to restore safety and security to Cabo Delgado. #AUEU pic.twitter.com/N8CSuXXe9L

— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) July 12, 2021

European Union (EU) foreign ministers on Monday approved the launch of the military training mission to Mozambique to “train and support the Mozambican armed forces” in “restoring security” in Cabo Delgado.

The mission will provide “military training, including operational preparedness, specialised counter-terrorism training, and training and education in protection of civilians, respect for international humanitarian law and human rights law,” according to a statement issued by the Council of the EU.

In an interview with Lusa, the Portuguese Army Brigadier General who will lead EUTM Mozambique on the ground, Nuno Lemos Pires, said that the mission is starting to be prepared now, but will only be fully operational at the end of October, the date from which the two years of its mandate will count.

Nuno Lemos Pires also explained that “the number of people” that will integrate the EUTM has not yet been completely defined: “this then has to do with the ‘force generation’, that is, when are countries willing to give”.

“Portugal said it would give half of these forces, it is estimated that it will be around 120, 130, 150… We don’t know yet. Because the planning has just started. What we know at this point is that we will probably be in two bases: one in the south, between Maputo and Catembe, and another in the north, between Beira and Chimoyo, to train Navy and Army special forces,” he said.

Armed groups have been terrorising Cabo Delgado since 2017, with some attacks claimed by the ‘jihadist’ group Islamic State, in a wave of violence that has led to over 2,800 deaths, according to the ACLED conflict registration project, and 732,000 displaced people, according to the UN.

Source: Lusa