Panafrican News Agency

EC extends mandates of civilian advisory, military training missions in CAR

Brussels, Belgium (PANA) – The European Council has adopted two decisions extending the mandates of the European Union Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions in the Central African Republic (CAR): the civilian advisory mission EUAM RCA, and the military training mission EUTM RCA.

The decisions follow the holistic strategic review of the two missions and extend their mandates, until 9 August 2024 in the case of the civilian mission EUAM RCA, and until 20 September 2023 for the military one EUTM RCA.

In a statement it made available to PANA, the Council said that for EUAM RCA it foresees a financial reference amount for the common costs of € 28 400 000 and a reference amount of € 7 813 000 for the EUTM RCA.

The Council decided to maintain the strategic objectives of EUAM RCA, and to focus the mandate of EUTM RCA on the provision of strategic advice and accompanying education measures.

“This will support the functioning of the Ministry of Defence and the creation of a capable leadership education system. The Council also decided to widen the mandates of the two missions so as to include activities in support of the strategic communication efforts to foster EU values, promote EU action and expose violations of Human rights and International Humanitarian Law by foreign forces in the Central African Republic,” the Council explained.

The EUAM RCA was established in December 2019 with an initial mandate of two years, until 8 August 2022, with the objective to support the reform of the internal security forces to enable the Central African Republic authorities to mitigate the current security challenges in the country.

EU experts have worked so far to support the country’s Ministry of the Interior and the internal security forces, the police and the gendarmerie, with the aim of helping in their deployment throughout the country.

EUTM RCA was established in April 2016 to contribute to reform the Central African Republic defence sector within the framework of a wider security sector reform, in close coordination with other international support missions. It supports the Central African authorities and is engaged in three domains: strategic advice, operational training and education.

-0- PANA AR/MA 29July2022