29/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - Delayed for technical adjustments, the Council's joint action with regard to the EUPOL training and police advisory mission in Afghanistan must be formally adopted on Wednesday 30 May. The operation will be launched on 17 June in Kabul, where the command for the operation and its leader, German Brigadier General Friedrich Eichele, will be in place. EU Special Representative for Afghanistan Francesc Vendrell explained the context in which this mission is to take place when speaking to the press on Tuesday. In his view, it shows strong EU commitment towards Afghanistan, despite the fact that the mission is not of the same scale as that foreseen for Kosovo, 1,600 police officers. Mr Eichele said that there would be 110 police officers (including more or less 45 Germans) at the beginning of the mission and that this would gradually increase to reach 160 to 170 by the end of the year. These police officers would come from 16 EU countries and several third countries: Canada, Norway, Croatia, Turkey, Switzerland, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand and Australia. (oj)