The “Saxon” battlegroup in training

(BRUSSELS2) Several hundred Austrian, German, Finnish, Lithuanian and Dutch soldiers will come to train in the Belgian-Dutch border area as part of the EU rapid reaction force (battlegroup) which will be on duty at the first semester 2011. This exercise called "European Rhino 1" starts this Monday, September 27 and ends on October 8.

This battlegroup is placed under the command of the Dutchman Michiel van der Laan. The Dutch, essentially the 13th mechanized brigade, provide the backbone of the Battlegroup and provide half of the manpower: 1250 soldiers out of a total of 2350. The other half of the manpower being provided by Germany, Austria, the Finland (*) and Lithuania. This rapid reaction force will have all the capabilities (command, communications, logistics, transport, combat) to be able to carry out operations in total autonomy between 30 and 120 days, in accordance with the concept defined by the General Staff of the EU. It could be used both to conduct evacuation operations or to support humanitarian operations (1) and for conflict prevention or crisis management operations, according to the Dutch side.

(*) Finland also participates with 200 soldiers in the Nordic Battlegroup

(1) Read also: Use battlegroups in the event of a disaster?

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)