The Heads of State of the G5 Sahel countries (Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad) welcomed, on Tuesday 16 February, in the final declaration of the N’Djamena summit, the increased military commitment of European partners in the Sahel, “as evidenced by the escalation of the Takuba Task Force”.
This mission, launched on 27 March 2020, aims to accompany the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) in combat in the Liptako region in Mali.
“Takuba now has nine partners (France, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Denmark, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands) and is attracting growing interest from countries, particularly in Eastern and Southern Europe”, announced French President Emmanuel Macron at the end of the summit.
While Franco-Estonian and Franco-Czech special forces groups have been deployed since July 2020, the task force will be fully operational by summer 2021, after the arrival of the Swedish and Italian contingents, according to the declaration. Countries such as Denmark, Portugal and the Netherlands are already deploying officers to the headquarters and could increase their commitment; other countries, such as Greece, Belgium, Hungary, Ukraine, Slovakia and Norway, have expressed interest in joining the initiative, the statement added. According to Mr Macron, Serbia has also confirmed its intention to join the force. Conversely, Germany, which already participates in EUTM Mali and MINUSMA, has made it clear that it has no intention of committing itself to further missions.
The Heads of State also welcomed the continuation of training and advisory efforts. The renewal and strengthening of EUTM Mali’s mandate will make it possible “to accompany the national forces up to the tactical level and to provide training to all the countries of the G5 Sahel”, the declaration recalls.
Spain, which is currently in command of the mission, and Germany, which will succeed it for the second half of 2021, have announced that their personnel will be reinforced. The Spanish contingent is expected to reach 530 people, the German 450. 22 out of 27 Member States participate in the mission.
The Heads of State also welcomed the strengthening of the mandates of the civilian missions EUCAP Sahel Niger and EUCAP Sahel Mali, “which will enhance their contribution to the training, mentoring and advising of internal security forces and support the consolidation of the rule of law, in a regionalised approach”.
“At the summit, we reaffirmed the re-commitment and the request of some states in the region to participate in these programmes (EUTM and EUCAP)”, explained Mr Macron. According to him, Burkina Faso has signed a letter of commitment to the European Union to apply for this training.
Leaders also welcomed the EU’s increasing role in co-facilitating pillars 2 and 3 of the Sahel Coalition, which focus on building the capacity of the armed forces of the states in the region and supporting the return of states and administrations to the territory through the establishment of the Secretariat of the Partnership for Stability and Security in the Sahel (P3S) within the European External Action Service (EEAS), which they called for its further operationalisation.
Calling for enhanced coordination of partners in the framework of return support and the P3S, the Heads of State requested that the EU Heads of Delegation in the G5 Sahel countries contribute more to this coordination and political follow-up with the national authorities and partners represented.
They welcomed the first results of the EU’s increased commitment (€194 million) to fund programmes in the field of internal security, stabilisation, governance and development aid and thanked the EU for its “decisive” support to the G5 Sahel Joint Force and its commitment to provide €284.5 million in support to the G5 Sahel over the period 2017-2023.
“The EU has been able to mobilise to resolve the issue of providing personal protective equipment, armoured vehicles, light vehicles, for training gendarmes and in infrastructures”, recalled the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in his speech.
See the declaration: http://bit.ly/2Nulg3l and Mr Michel’s speech: http://bit.ly/3bafgoB (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)