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Mali mission is transferred to Eurocorps

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Number: 4462

Momento del relevo en Mali

Transfer of power in Mali (Photo: EMAD)

Asistió el ministro de Defensa

The Spanish minister of Defence attended the ceremony (Photo: EMAD)

Eurocorps, whose new chief is Spanish Lieutenant General Alfredo Ramírez, took over command of the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM-Mali) on 28 July. The intergovernmental army corps relieved Spain, which led the operation over the past nine months.

The head of the mission, General Alfonso García-Vaquero, passed the baton to the Chief of the General Staff of Eurocorps, German General Franz Xaver Pfrengle, during a ceremony attended by the Spanish minister of Defence, Pedro Morenés, and the Chief of the Defence Staff, Admiral Fernando García Sánchez, together with other local and EU authorities.

EUTM-Mali trained 1,200 Malian soldiers while 800 more were retrained over the period Spain was in charge of the mission. From now on Eurocorps will lead the training of the Malian Army so that it can confront the Tuareg militias in the north of the country as well as advising the Malian Ministry of Defence at the highest level.

Main contributor

The mission was launched in February 2013 to improve the military capability of the Malian armed forces. It is part of the comprehensive approach of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy to the situation in Mali and the Sahel.

The mission currently mobilises 541 soldiers from 25 countries – 23 of them, European. Spain was the main contributor over the nine months the country was in charge, with 163 soldiers. After the transfer of power the Spanish contingent is again down to 110 soldiers deployed in Bamako and Koulikoro, thus becoming the second contributor after Germany.