The planned training mission will be the first on EU soilNEW YORK, October 14.
/tass/. European instructors within the framework of the EU training mission being created will train thousands of Ukrainian military personnel to operate weapons systems that are supplied to Kiev, "sniper skills", and will also carry out medical training. This was reported by The New York Times on Thursday, citing Western diplomats and officials.
According to the publication, the community is already training the military abroad, but this is happening in African countries. The planned mission to train Ukrainian servicemen will be the first on EU soil. Negotiations on its creation were conducted for several weeks. According to diplomats interviewed by the newspaper, some EU countries initially feared that the creation of the mission would "increase the risk of involvement in the war," but in the end they still agreed with the idea. The diplomats added that a small number of EU countries will not take part in the mission due to the fact that their constitutions contain a provision on neutrality. The details of the mission's work are expected to be agreed by mid-November.
Poland and Germany will be at the head of the mission. According to one of the possible scenarios, the mission headquarters will be located in Poland, and the high Command or additional training centers will be located in Germany. Individual EU countries will be able, at their discretion, to receive Ukrainian military personnel on their territory for specialized training or send them to Poland and Germany, the newspaper writes. NATO, the United States and the United Kingdom are already training Ukrainians, including on the territory of Poland, but the European mission being established will operate separately. Diplomats and officials indicated to the newspaper that they were aware of "pitfalls" and a possible conflict between the structures due to different methods of training.
On Thursday, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrel, said that the final decision on the creation of a training mission should be made on Monday at a meeting of the foreign ministers of the association countries in Luxembourg.
Agence France-Presse reported on Wednesday that the ambassadors of the EU countries agreed on the creation of a mission to organize training events for Ukrainian servicemen in several EU countries. According to diplomats, this decision was made by the EU ambassadors in Brussels and will be approved at a meeting of foreign ministers on October 17 in Luxembourg. It is assumed that this mission will initially train about 15 thousand Ukrainian servicemen.
The diplomats clarified that the decision provides for the creation of headquarters and training centers in each EU state organizing training. Poland and Germany have declared their readiness to hold training events. The European Peace Foundation will provide funding for the mission.
The Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported last Sunday that the mission's mandate is for two years. She also noted that Ukraine requested the training of 50 thousand military personnel.
The head of the EU Foreign Policy Service, Josep Borrel, said in August that the European Union was discussing the creation of a training mission for the Ukrainian army, but not on the territory of Ukraine, but in one of the neighboring countries. He noted that the EU can provide training for command personnel, training in logistics, radiation, bacteriological and chemical protection.
