On Friday 29 August, on his arrival at the informal meeting of European ministers in Copenhagen, Irish Minister for Defence Simon Harris announced that his country would propose the creation of a Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) mission to train the Lebanese armed forces.
The previous day, the United Nations Security Council extended the mandate of the UN mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, until 2027 for the last time.
“I think it’s really important that the time now and that exists between now and the end of 2027 is used and used well in terms of supporting the Lebanese armed forces. (...) We really need to see now under the CSDP what we could do usefully,” explained the Minister.
Mr Harris said that he would be presenting a document “in the coming weeks”, “to propose that Europe would consider a training mission specifically to help the Lebanese armed forces increase their capabilities in the time ahead”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)