Weimar Battlegroup Agreement

(BRUSSELS2) That's it, it's done. After a few months of discussions, French, Poles and Germans signed the technical agreement which sets up the Battlegroup of Weimar. It will be on alert in the first half of 2013. The signature was made today at the Permanent Representation of Poland in Brussels by the three military representatives to NATO and the EU, Major General Janusz BOJARSKI (Poland) , Wing Vice-Admiral Xavier PAÏTARD (France) and Lieutenant General Roland KATHER (Germany).

The Battlegroup should comprise between 2000 and 2500 men, more than half of whom will be Polish. It is Poland, in fact, which assumes the role of Framework Nation. It will provide the heart of the battlegroup, a mechanized battalion (which should be the 17th brigade which will also be on duty for the Visegrad battlegroup in 2015), as well as the commander of the battlegroup (Slawomir Wojciechowski). The Germans will provide logistical support. And the French will provide the medical support. And the OHQ at Mont-Valérien.

More deals to come

This agreement lays the foundations of the battlegroup, the methods of coordination of the preparation as well as the rules of engagement. Now we will now have to prepare and/or finalize a whole series of technical agreements, particularly in terms of logistics. In addition to the command structure, the battlegroup includes everything that is necessary to be autonomous in its rapid, short-term action, aimed at stabilizing a country or evacuating nationals, such as the communication system, air transport , logistics and technical support.

No civilian component... yet

On the other hand, nothing is mentioned about the civilian component of the battlegroup, a Polish and German request as well. What we initialed corresponds to a “military battlegroup. To go further (include civilians), it's another discussion, possibly at other levels, because you have to touch on the concept. Clearly, nothing is excluded, nothing is planned.