EU prepares to launch military training mission for Ukraine

The European Union plans to launch a military training mission for Ukraine. This should be announced at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting.

Josep Borrell, EU High Representative, wrote about this in his blog at the EEAS website.

“At the next Foreign Affairs Council on 17 October, I hope we can formally launch our training mission for Ukrainian armed forces,” he wrote.

Josep Borrell also emphasized that the European Union will continue to support Ukraine. This is the EU’s response to Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons “for defense.”

“As EU, we have made it clear that we will never accept the annexation and that we will not be intimidated by Russia’s threats and escalations. On the contrary, we will reinforce our strategy of supporting Ukraine – militarily, financially and politically; upping the pressure on Russia with more sanctions and supporting our international partner to handle the fallout of the war… At the same time, we remain ready to pursue a diplomatic solution, should the circumstances return to do so in a meaningful way,” Borrell stressed.

As previously reported, the European Union plans to train up to 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers under the new training mission.

If the EU approves the mission, which will be given the rather unwieldy name “European Union Military Assistance Mission” or EUMAM, it will combine the actions of several states, which will allow for better coordination. Plans for the mission should be determined already in mid-October.

During the discussion, some disagreements arose regarding the details of the mission planning. Poland proposed to create something similar to a central training camp for Ukrainians near the border with Ukraine. According to the military, the Poles wanted to train entire combat units up to the battalion there.

Germany was concerned with the fact that the establishment of a large training center in Poland alone would take a long time, and that such a camp would have to be carefully protected from possible espionage by Russian intelligence services, as well as possible attacks or sabotage.

A compromise was found at the working level. It was assumed that the Poles would create a “headquarters of forces” with the funds from the EU allocated for this organisation.

In addition, EU counries will organize separate training courses by specialty instead of a single training center.

As previously reported, Ukrainian military personnel continue to study under the INTERFLEX program in Great Britain. Training of about 10,000 military personnel is planned during the INTERFLEX program.

In September, the General Staff of the Armed Forces reported that almost 5,000 Ukrainian military personnel have undergone training.

During the training, the soldiers of the Defense Forces gain skills in tactical medicine, engineering, live-fire. They also receive psychological, and tactical training, including running offensive and defensive missions in an urban setting.