Bartamaha (Nairobi):- Chacon has done a review of the agenda discussed during these two days with ministers of defence in the EU, including the status of ongoing missions such as the Atalanta operation to combat piracy off Somalia and Operation Althea, Bosnia.
Spain will lead an EU mission to train the security forces of Somalia
Defense Minister, Carme Chacon, has announced that the EU will launch a training mission of the security forces of Somalia, that will be lead by Spain. The defence minister told reporters at the outset of the informal meeting of defence ministers of the EU to be held in Palma de Mallorca.
Chacon has done a review of the agenda discussed during these two days with ministers of defence in the EU, including the status of ongoing missions such as the Atalanta operation to combat piracy off Somalia and Operation Althea, Bosnia.
As regards ‘Atalanta’ the Minister has expressed her satisfaction with the results achieved, as currently one in six attempts ends in abduction, compared with previous data that were double those figures. However, “we can improve” and therefore the EU is to implement a series of measures, including control over the ports of origin of the pirates.
The EU aims to train up to 2,000 members of the security forces of Somalia with the aim of stabilizing the country and campaign to combat piracy in the area.
Defence Ministers also muted the creation of a European rapid reaction force based on the so-called Battle Groups, which can respond to humanitarian disasters such as occurred in Haiti. These groups would act as a jointly coordinated civic-military force the minister pointed out.
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Source: barcelonareporter
