The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, acknowledged, on Monday 6 April, that the coronavirus pandemic was having an impact on some of the EU's military missions around the world.
The EU currently has six military missions: Althea in Bosnia and Herzegovina, EU NAVFOR Atalanta off the coast of Somalia, EUTM Mali, EUTM Somalia and EUTM RCA, and the brand new EU NAVFOR Med Irini in the Mediterranean.
"We are ensuring that our missions and operations maintain a presence on the ground and continue to conduct their activities as far as possible to avoid a negative security impact", Mr Borrell explained after a meeting of European defence ministers by videoconference, at which they discussed the state of play of military missions.
However, "the primary consideration is the health and safety of personnel", he said, adding that measures had been quickly put in place to protect them and that the EU was following the decisions taken by national authorities. According to Mr Borrell, members of the missions are under daily surveillance and quarantine facilities have been set up for when necessary.
The number of staff could also be reduced in some missions, he announced, promising as well that he would work "in a coordinated manner" with Member States "to avoid any unilateral decisions by Member States involved in participating in these missions and operations".
Beyond personnel, the pandemic is having an impact on mission activities: non-essential activities, meetings and visits are limited and activities outside the camps have been cancelled where they are not fundamental to the development of the mission, the High Representative said.
And while, according to him, the Althea and Atalanta missions are operating at 100% capacity, the others are not. For example, in the missions in Africa, the number of training courses had been reduced, also due to limitations set by the host countries. But other activities, in particular advice, including on crisis response, are being maintained as much as possible, he explained.
Strengthening information exchange
Furthermore, at their meeting, Defence Ministers agreed to explore ways in which military expertise could be used at EU level to support the exchange of information and sharing of good practice between Member States. "For that, we could create a working group within the EEAS led by military personnel", Borrell proposed. He said that this would be done in full respect of competencies and in coordination with NATO, adding that there should be no duplication of work, even though the Alliance has also decided to strengthen cooperation among its members (see EUROPE 12461/26).
Ministers also considered that this crisis provided an opportunity to reflect on ways to improve resilience and to use defence initiatives to develop defence capabilities needed to deal with similar situations in the future. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)