As the EU prepares sanctions against the Wagner group (see EUROPE 12833/31), an EEAS report of 22 November, obtained by EUROPE, reveals that FACA (Central African Armed Forces) units trained by the EUTM mission are cooperating with the group.
The Diplomatic Service denounces the fact that ‘the Wagner group/Russia’ is training the FACA in a non-transparent way and has provided additional training to units already certified by EUTM RCA. The latest example is the newly trained EUTM Bataillon d’Infanterie Territoriale 7 (BIT 7), currently controlled by Wagner Group personnel “who are providing additional training against the agreement between EUTM and the CAR government on transparent employment”.
More broadly, “most deployed FACA units are operating under direct command or supervision by Wagner’s mercenaries”, the document states, adding that Wagner has notably established a strong influence on the FACA staff and other government institutions.
The EEAS believes that the very weak command and control relationship between the deployed units and the headquarters is regularly exploited by Wagner/Russian mercenaries “who are able unhindered to take over command on the spot and thus use the FACA for their own operations”.
For the EEAS, Wagner’s strong presence, with increased influence on decision-makers in Bangui, has placed CSDP missions in a more complex environment. “It will be necessary to support the Central African government in finding options to weaken this influence, to propose viable alternatives and to monitor if this will lead into concrete actions”.
The future positioning of the government in relation to the Wagner Group and FACA operations will determine the future CSDP footprint of the EU in CAR. A strategic review of the EUTM and EUAM missions is planned for the first half of 2022.
The spokesperson for the European External Action Service, Nabila Massrali, declined to comment on the report. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)