On Monday 17 October EU foreign ministers decided to step up EU support to Ukraine by agreeing on the establishment of a military assistance mission (EUMAM Ukraine) and adopting a new tranche of aid from the European Peace Facility of €500 million.
“Russia’s latest indiscriminate attacks will not shake our determination to support Ukraine, they will only reinforce it”, warned the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell. He also explained that support for Ukraine was the EU’s top priority.
Military training mission
The Council, despite Hungary’s abstention, decided to set up EUMAM Ukraine, which should be operational by mid-November, according to the High Representative.
The aim of the mission is to help strengthen the military capability of the Ukrainian armed forces to conduct effective military operations, according to the EU Council. EUMAM will provide individual, collective and specialised training to Ukraine’s armed forces, including their territorial defence forces, as well as coordinating and synchronising Member States’ activities supporting the training, it said in a statement. This mission complements the activities already carried out in some Member States.
The initial goal is to train 15,000 men. According to Danish minister Jappe Kofod, EUMAM Ukraine could become the largest mission ever undertaken by the EU. “This is high-level training - not only for soldiers, but also for commanders”, said Mr Borrell.
The initial mandate of this non-executive mission is 2 years, with a budget for the common costs of €106.7 million. Unlike other EU CSDP missions, this one will operate on the territory of EU Member States. It will have its operational headquarters within the EEAS in Brussels to ensure overall coordination at the strategic level and will be under the command of Vice Admiral Hervé Bléjean, Director of the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC).
New tranche of €500 million
The ministers also adopted a new aid package under the European Peace Facility (EPF) for a total of €500 million, including €490 million for military equipment designed to provide lethal force for defensive purposes. The remaining €10 million is intended to cover the provision of equipment and supplies, such as personal protective equipment, first aid kits and fuel.
This tranche will also be used for the maintenance and repair of military equipment already donated by EU Member States to Ukraine under the EPF.
With this new aid, €3.1 billion from the European Peace Facility has been dedicated to Ukraine.
Ensuring accountability
In addition to these decisions, the ministers denounced Russia’s latest attacks, including on Kyiv. According to the French minister, Catherine Colonna, the subject of possible additional sanctions against Russia, should it “continue its headlong rush”, was discussed.
Ministers also called for accountability. “We not only need more sanctions (against Russia), more weapons for Ukraine, but also to establish and show that there is accountability. No crime will go unpunished”, warned Latvian Edgars Rinkēvičs.
The three Baltic ministers called for a special “Nuremberg-style” tribunal to investigate the crime of aggression in Ukraine when they arrived in Luxembourg. They called on the EU and other allies to follow suit. Luxembourgish minister Jean Asselborn also spoke out in favour of such a tribunal before the press, as did Czech foreign minister Jan Lipavský in September (see EUROPE 13024/15).
Asked by EUROPE, Ms Colonna said the first two instruments available in the legal order were the Ukrainian Prosecutor General and the International Criminal Court (ICC). The first step is to support these two bodies, in the minister’s view. However, she said that a special tribunal could be considered.
A few days earlier, the European Commissioner for Justice, Didier Reynders, gave a similar answer to this question, although there is no common position on this in the EU Council at the moment (see EUROPE 13042/2).
The issue of accountability should be included in the conclusions of the European Council of 20-21 October. According to draft conclusions dated 16 October seen by EUROPE, the EU leaders invite the High Representative and the Commission to explore options for ensuring a fair and effective trial for the perpetrators of war crimes, including the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
The European Council could also invite the Commission to present - and the Council to work on - a more structural solution for providing assistance to Ukraine. “The full potential of the Association Agreement and the deep and comprehensive free trade agreement with Ukraine should be used to facilitate its access to the single market”, the draft conclusions said.
The heads of State or government could also call on the Belarusian authorities to stop facilitating Russia’s war of aggression, warning that the EU remained ready to take swift action to impose further sanctions on Belarus if necessary.
See the European Council draft conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/3mz (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant and Léa Marchal)