The European Union (EU) apparently wants to launch a so-called civilian-military mission to the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa in the autumn. As the “Welt am Sonntag” reports, citing diplomatic circles, the EU countries have agreed to begin the mission immediately after a formal decision by the EU foreign ministers at their meeting in Luxembourg in October.
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As the insiders explained to the paper, a not yet precisely defined number of police officers and soldiers will be deployed in the countries of Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and Benin.
“Operational Preparation Training”
According to the paper, the EU is pursuing four goals with the deployment: In addition to a general strengthening of the security forces, especially in the north of the four countries, through advice and training, it is also intended to provide concrete “pre-deployment training” for anti-terrorist operations, technical support and confidence-building in the security sector.
African Union suspends Niger after military coup© APA/AFP/POOL/LUDOVIC MARIN
The reason for the deployment is the EU’s concern that jihadist groups could expand their activities in West Africa from the Sahel to the southern coastal countries of the Gulf of Guinea, thus spreading instability in the region even further. As the paper further reports, the governments of Benin and Ghana have already sent the letter of invitation to stay in their countries, which is necessary for the mission of the Europeans.
➤ Read more here: Why the military coup in Niger also affects Europe
It was only at the end of 2022 that the EU decided on a military mission in Niger to fight terrorism in the region. The Sahel region is considered a center for Islamist terror in particular. Islamic State and al-Qaeda groups are active in Mali as well as in Burkina Faso and Niger. For the EU, the situation in Niger is also important because it is one of the most important transit countries for African migrants on their way to Europe. The EU has been cooperating with Niger since 2015, mainly to block the migration route from the Nigerien desert city of Agadez to Libya. The EU had provided 503 million euros in funding for Niger in the budget for the period 2021 to 2024. Since the military coup in Niger on 26 July, the EU has suspended cooperation with the country.
