Portugal to propose an EU mission to Mozambique

The situation in Mozambique has deteriorated markedly in recent months. The northern part of the country, the Cabo Delgado region, has been an area frequented by drug traffickers, who took advantage of its proximity to the Tanzanian border to make their movements a reality. The presence of gas reserves in this area and this criminal base linked to drug trafficking attracted the interest of jihadism, which found in the instability that already existed in the area an enormous support to establish itself.

Since then, violence has continued to increase, whether against civilians or the military. Several localities have been captured, such as Mocimboa da Praia, military enclaves have been attacked, and the support of contractors has been harassed, according to different Russian and South African analyses, with which Mozambique tried to deal with a situation. This has clearly not been successful.

In the wake of this situation, the European Union and the United States have already come out in favour of supporting the country in some way by strengthening its security sector to deal with this growing threat. Spain has indicated that the African country has shown interest in training specialised anti-terrorist units similar to those being trained in the Sahel by the Spanish Guardia Civil in collaboration with France, Italy and Portugal. 

France, for its part, has proposed supporting the French troops present in some of its nearby overseas territories within the framework of the Armed Forces of the Southern Indian Ocean, such as those deployed in Mayotte. However, it is Portugal, as the country's former metropolis, that is trying to push within the European Union for the establishment of an EU mission similar to those being developed in Mali, Somalia or the Central African Republic.

Portugal holds the rotating presidency of the EU, which is why it will try to pull strings to provide support to the country. The Portuguese Defence Minister, Joao Cravinho, has taken advantage of the European Parliament's Defence Committee in which he participated to point out the urgency of acting in Mozambique, supporting and training its armed forces. 

Lisbon has already established a line of dialogue with Maputo to assess this possibility, and the Portuguese foreign minister visited the Mozambican capital last week to make initial contact. Although the possibilities with which the EU can support Mozambique are various, the most realistic and consistent is that of establishing a training mission, an EUTM, to increase the capabilities of Mozambican forces, as the Portuguese Defence Minister has pointed out.

Cravinho announced that he will present a firm proposal at the next meeting of EU defence ministers, where European partners will have to assess its viability, bearing in mind the complicated economic and social context in which Europe finds itself due to the coronavirus. The meeting, which will take place in Lisbon, will also be attended by authorities from the African Union and other regional organisations on the continent.