Evora, 01/10/2007 (Agence Europe) - Answering questions put to him by the press on Saturday 29 September, Javier Solana, EU High Representative for the CFSP, reacted to American criticism about the EU's police mission (EUPOL) in Afghanistan. He said numbers were not important as they did not plan to train every single policeman, adding that it is the structure of the Ministry of the Interior that they must develop and supervise, with all the consequences that this will entail. For this, he said, there is no need for battalions as they are not going to take control of the country. Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting of defence ministers in Evora, he said “it is the role of the international community to improve the capabilities of the Afghan police and army, but that cannot be done in a flash”.
In an interview published on 16 September 2007 by the German weekly, Welt Am Sonntag, the US Permanent Representative to NATO, Victoria Nuland, had called on the EU to mobilise 5,000 instructors instead of the 160 foreseen. “It's not enough to train policemen in classrooms, as Germany is doing at present”, she said, pointing out that “Afghan police officers should be accompanied on the ground, even in the dangerous regions in southern and eastern Afghanistan”. Ms Nuland's comments were made after Berlin's announcement that Friedrich Eichele, Head of the European mission, would be officially recalled to Germany to tackle the matter of reform of the German police force. Appointed just three months ago, the head of EUPOL has encountered various difficulties, especially logistic problems, to which an answer is being sought as rapidly as possible in order to allow the mission to function as it should by early next year at the latest. Some 80 policemen, half of whom are of German nationality, are currently in Kabul, but they still do not have the armoured personnel carriers needed for them to move around the country. Deployment in the provinces is expected to come at a later date, once member states have made up the personnel numbers still needed. (ol)