Mozambique: EU mission is ‘consensual matter’ among 27 – Portugal defence minister

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Mozambique: EU mission is ‘consensual matter’ among 27 – Portugal defence minister

8:08 CAT | 03 Sep 2021

File photo: Lusa

The European Union’s military training mission to Mozambique is a peaceful issue among the 27 and is being established with consensus, Portugal-s Defence Minister João Gomes Cravinho told Lusa in Slovenia on Thursday.

Later, at the entrance to the meeting, he had already said that the mission is progressing very well, with many contributions from the member states, as evidenced by a first informal meeting of representatives of the 27 held the day before in Brussels to decide the constitution of the force, João Gomes Cravinho, speaking to Lusa after the issue had already been discussed today among EU Defence ministers, reiterated that several countries had signalled their willingness to participate.

“Essentially, Mozambique is a peaceful subject […] I see with great satisfaction that we are making this journey towards establishing a European Union training mission with much tranquillity, much ease, much consensus,” the national defence minister said.

This mission was briefly discussed today at the informal meeting of defence ministers in the Slovenian town of Kranj, as part of a review by the 27 of the EU’s operational activities around the world, including the establishment of the military training mission in Mozambique, approved last July by the heads of diplomacy.

Regarding the meeting the day before, at the level of permanent representatives of the 27 in Brussels with political instructions from their capitals regarding the participation of military personnel from each country, João Gomes Cravinho, without revealing details of the availability shown by member states, assured that it was “very positive” and gives “full confidence” that, as planned, the mission will be on the ground at the beginning of next month.

“It was an informal meeting to take the pulse of the member states, and this has already given us very positive indications for the formal meeting that will take place a week from today. What happened yesterday [Wednesday] gives us full confidence that the mission can meet its objective of starting [the work on the ground] in a few weeks, in early October,” he said on arrival at Thursday’s meeting.

On July 12, EU foreign ministers approved the establishment of a military training mission in Mozambique to train and support the Mozambican Armed Forces in restoring security in Cabo Delgado, a province in the north-east of the country that has been the scene of attacks by armed groups since 2017, some of which have been claimed by the extremist group Islamic State, with a tally of more than 3,100 dead and over 817,000 displaced.

Commanded by Portuguese Brigadier General Nuno Lemos Pires, the EUTM Mozambique mission, whose launch was a priority of the Portuguese presidency of the Council of the EU, aims to train Mozambican special forces companies to develop a rapid force reaction to change the situation in Cabo Delgado province, and should thus be operational on the ground in early October, with an expected duration of 28 months.