Baltic and Nordic trainers arrived in Bamako. A first for the Lithuanians (Maj)

(BRUSSELS2) The trainers of the Balto-Nordic "team" - Finnish, Swedish, Lithuanian* - also arrived on Sunday (March 24) to take part in the European Union training mission for the Malian army (EUTM Mali ).

An African first for Lithuanians

Note that for the two Lithuanians, members of the motorized infantry brigade "King Mindaugas", this mission has a small aspect of novelty, since it is the first contribution to a mission on the African continent. " The strengthening of African security structures is one of the priorities of the European Union” had estimated the Lithuanian Defense Minister, Juozas Olekas, before their departure.

All of them were trained and prepared for African life at the Pori brigade in Säkylä in Finland, which serves as a training ground for all Finnish blue helmets going on mission abroad.

Start: early April

Training must start At the beginning of April. More exactly, the first Malian soldiers who will be trained will arrive on April 2. Training starting in the following days. The majority of the troops are now on site, with the exception of the Spaniards who will only arrive on site on April 13: 32 men from the Legion by Viator (Almeria) will serve as a protection force (1 lieutenant, 3 protection officers and 28 men) and 15 instructors who will be added to the 8 Spanish soldiers already on site, as well as our colleagues fromEuropapress.