General Vincenzo Coppola, EU Civilian Operations Commander, told the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defence on Wednesday 22 January that the EUAM Iraq mission was still operating, but with only a third of its strength, due to the rise in tensions in the region, particularly following the assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani on 3 January in an American raid (see EUROPE 12396/1).
Launched in October 2017 to help implement the civilian aspects of the Iraqi National Security Strategy (see EUROPE 11884/3), the EUAM Iraq mission “is still functioning, even though the security and military environment is very bad”, he explained, adding that of the 60 personnel that make up the mission, 20 are currently serving there. The other members “left for the holidays and did not return, on my instructions”, the general explained.
General Coppola will visit Iraq on Monday 27 January, in particular to assess whether the situation there allows for the return of some of the staff.
However, the general wanted to be reassuring. The mission has two locations in Baghdad that allow for the movement of personnel according to security needs. “Overall, the situation is stable, the mission has never been attacked so far and there have been no attacks near our headquarters”, he said. According to the EU Civilian Operations Commander, the Iraqis do not regard the mission as ‘foreign troops’ and as such it does not need to leave the country.
General Coppola also advocated strengthening EUAM. “We have to stay on the ground, not shirk. It started 2 years ago and then the mandate was reassessed (see EUROPE 12117/21). We will surely continue and perhaps have more resources before an expanded mandate”, he hoped, realising that this would have to be considered “as we go along”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)