The Director General of the EU Military Staff (EUMS), General Esa Pulkkinen, highlighted on Wednesday 22 January the possibility of strengthening the mandate of the EU training mission EUTM Mali, which is currently being revised.
“The non-executive mandate is enough for us, maybe we should just deepen our support for the forces we are training, I think that is how we can improve the effectiveness of the EU”, he explained in a debate in the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence. “We’ve trained more than 10,000 soldiers; we’re continuing to do that. It’s very important, but increasingly we’re focusing on consulting, because at the end of the day, you have to have sustainable armed forces”, he added. According to the general, this would require a “more permanent” presence throughout Mali.
The General also recalled that a high level of ambition and a more permanent and reinforced presence depended on the willingness of Member States to get involved, whether in terms of human resources or logistics. “The discussion continues. A commitment is expected from the Member States. We had difficulties in recruiting enough”, including French-speaking officers, he explained, adding that EUTM lacked medical and airlift capabilities.
Despite these difficulties, the general added that Burkina Faso would need bilateral support and that the EU was looking into ways of extending EUTM’s military support in the country. “It will be difficult, but it will be necessary”, he warned.
European solidarity, on a small scale, is also being felt in the French military operation Barkhane. According to Rear Admiral Xavier Petit, deputy to the chief of the operations planning and control centre of the French Army Staff, the French – currently 4,500 soldiers on site – are assisted by about 50 Estonians, about 100 British with helicopters, Spanish support with strategic and tactical transport, German help with a few intra-theatre flights, and Danish help with two helicopters. The United States is also helping by providing strategic transport and intelligence.
Europeans will have to compensate for a possible American departure
For example, the Rear Admiral expressed concern about a possible disengagement of the United States from Africa. “If the Americans were to leave, there would be an even greater need for European forces”, Admiral Petit explained, citing tanker and transport aircraft and intelligence support, such as drones. Equipment owned by Europeans. More generally, with or without American withdrawal, “all military goodwill is good to take”, Rear Admiral Petit recalled, adding that there was a very wide range of missions and, therefore, possibilities for action on the ground (military action, logistic support, transport, medical support, training, etc.)
For his part, General Pulkkinen has announced that he will travel to the United States this Sunday, where he will remind Americans that the African continent needs them and that Africa is part of transatlantic security.
From a more global perspective, General Pulkkinen, Rear Admiral Petit and Birgitte Markussen, Deputy Director General for Africa at the European External Action Service, stressed the need for an integrated approach.
“One must ask oneself how to respond to the emergency. We need to rethink the political, security, development and humanitarian axes”, explained Ms Markussen. She announced that the Europeans are currently working with the G5 Sahel countries on an integrated framework to agree on the most vulnerable areas to work on more and in a more integrated way. “This is a test for us, we have to show that we are capable of ensuring Africa’s security with Africans”, General Pulkkinen concluded. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)