European defence ministers agreed, on Tuesday 30 August, during their informal meeting in Prague, to move forward with work to set up a training mission for the Ukrainian armed forces.
“All member states agree clearly on that and on launching the work necessary to define parameters for a EU military assistance mission for Ukraine”, announced the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, at the end of the meeting.
While several ministers - the Dutch, the Swedish and the Slovakian - supported such a mission when they arrived at the informal meeting - the latter even offering to host it on its territory - the Austrian minister had many questions.
“The question is: ‘Can there be a mission?’ There are many open questions, such as the legal basis, the scope of the mission and its content”, said Klaudia Tanner.
Thus, the ministers asked the European External Action Service to do the preparatory work. This includes contacts with the Ukrainians and a definition of the legal and operational parameters to define a crisis management concept that could lead to a decision on the launch of a mission, the High Representative explained. He promised that the work would be done quickly and in close cooperation with the Member States, Ukraine and international partners.
“We have to be fast, ambitious, add value and be flexible, based on Ukrainian needs”, Mr Borrell said. During the meeting, the ministers held a videoconference with their Ukrainian counterpart. He provided them with a list of activities at different levels and in the short, medium and long term that the Ukrainian armed forces need.
However, an EU source told EUROPE that some ministers questioned the added value of such a mission. On his arrival at the meeting, Luxembourg’s François Bausch had publicly expressed reservations, saying that a coordinated EU training mission would take longer than bilateral missions. “It may not be the fastest way, so I’m not so convinced”, he explained.
The High Representative recognised that some training should remain at national level. “It is clear that some of the training provided by some Member States is well done at national level”, he explained. He took the example of France, which supplied certain types of weapons and was therefore best placed to train Ukrainians to use them.
“But there are several processes to make an army work that are linked to the whole functioning of a complex body like an army”, Mr Borrell added, arguing that some of the needs highlighted by Ukraine could be better provided by pooling member states’ capabilities and seeking their specialisation. “High level training, organisation of logistics, health of the military, protection against nuclear, chemical and biological weapons... This cannot be solved overnight, but it can form the basis for EU action”, he said.
The High Representative added that while there were many training initiatives, the needs were enormous. He stressed the need to ensure the coherence of these efforts.
In addition, the Dutch Minister, Kajsa Ollongren, and the German State Secretary, Siemtje Möller, also announced that their countries are considering a new joint training mission on demining. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)