The European External Action Service (EEAS) recommends, in a document dated 25 May and copied to EUROPE, to consider CSDP military missions in Niger and Burkina Faso and CSDP action in the Gulf of Guinea.
In its strategic review of the EUTM Mali and EUCAP Sahel Mali missions in 2022, the EEAS takes stock of the “political and security situation in Mali (which) continues to deteriorate” and the consequences for the missions.
It states that the Member States’ ambassadors to the EU (Political and Security Committee) should invite the EU to “develop a Crisis Management Concept for a possible CSDP military mission in Niger, to further develop the possible models for a CSDP action in the Gulf of Guinea and to further explore the possibilities for a CSDP military mission in Burkina Faso, if conditions allow”. In previous analyses, the EEAS had already called for a focus on actions in Niger, Burkina Faso and the Gulf of Guinea (see EUROPE 12904/17).
The civilian EUCAP Niger mission should also be technically extended for 2 months - it runs until 30 September - and a strategic review should be presented by the end of June 2022.
For both EUTM Mali and EUCAP Sahel Mali, the diplomatic service recommends “temporarily and reversibly suspending all operational training activities” benefiting the Malian armed forces, the National Guard and the National Gendarmerie. This has been the case since a decision of the Political and Security Committee on 5 April. In addition, according to the EEAS, the capacity must be maintained to conduct contingency planning for redeployment and restoration of operational training activities, if agreed by the ambassadors.
The EEAS states that the possibilities for future cooperation with the Malian authorities and defence and security forces will depend on two major factors: whether the Malian authorities are willing to cooperate with EU CSDP missions and demonstrate the necessary commitment to their actions, and whether certain preconditions are met before any new operational training is undertaken in order to avoid reputational risks and to preserve the credibility of the EU. This will require that missions can operate freely and completely, that there is no interference by Russian-affiliated forces with the trained units, and that mechanisms exist to prevent violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
However, “in order not to create a vacuum that could be exploited to the detriment of EU interests, the CSDP presence in Mali should be maintained”, the diplomatic service warns.
There is also a need to monitor and assess the extent of Russian and Russian-affiliated forces’ involvement in the Malian Defence and Security Forces (MDSF) and their presence in MDSF training facilities and associated infrastructure, and to monitor the Russian-backed disinformation campaign.
The missions should also continue their actions related to human rights and humanitarian law and coordination on all these aspects with a view to promoting civil-military cooperation, in particular with the EU delegation and the Minusma.
Modifying the missions in Mali
Despite the complicated situation, the EEAS recommends maintaining the current mandate of EUTM Mali until 23 May 2024 and extending the mandate of EUCAP Sahel Mali for 2 years, until the end of January 2025 (the current mandate ends on 31 January 2023).
Furthermore, even if EUTM no longer provides operational training, the diplomatic service believes that it should focus its mission on providing strategic advice to the Malian Ministry of Defence and General Staff in order to improve their functioning in all relevant areas, to assist in the training of non-commissioned officers and officers in specific areas, and to provide training to the Malian Armed Forces only in non-operational areas, including human rights, international humanitarian law, protection of civilians, gender equality and child protection.
Support for the joint G5 Sahel force must also be continued depending on the future of the force after Mali announced it was leaving on 15 May. “If specific CSDP actions are set up in Niger and Burkina Faso, activities should be transferred to these countries and appropriate liaison should be ensured on issues related to the G5 Sahel joint force”, the document says.
In the EEAS’s view, the mandate of EUCAP should be maintained, but amended so that the fourth strategic objective should focus on facilitating the redeployment of the ISF to the Centre and their deployment to the South of Mali, and that the facilitation of the redeployment of the ISF to the Centre should be temporarily suspended until a decision to the contrary is taken by the ambassadors of the Political and Security Committee.
In addition, there should be a focus on activities that contribute to better governance of the National Guard and National Gendarmerie forces. There should also be a focus on gendarmerie activities contributing to better governance of the forces, further development of accountability mechanisms and activities in the area of combating impunity and human rights awareness. The EEAS recommends strengthening the mission’s activities with regard to the national police in order to improve its capacity to enhance regional security. For the national gendarmerie and police, the diplomacy service proposes to maintain the train-the-trainer approach and support in the area of specialised training on investigation issues. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)