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The new European mission in Ukraine in the launch phase

Logo-EUAM_Ukrain
The EUAM Ukraine logo, derived from the EULEX Kosovo Rule of Law Mission

(BRUSSELS2) It is a mission, all in all quite modest in its means but ambitious in its objectives, that the Ministers of Foreign Affairs will officially launch. Called EUAM Ukraine (1), it aims - according to the official terms of the decision - to provide assistance and advice for the "reform of civil security".

Formal launch on December 1

The decision is approved on Monday (November 17). And the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pavlo Klimkine, will be there very early on Monday to sign what is called the SOMA (the statute of the mission which authorizes Europeans to come to Ukraine). But the formal launch of the mission is scheduled for December 1st – as evidenced by the draft decision seen by B2 –.

Screenshot 2014-11-16 09.10.47

This, once the initial operational capacity" (IOC) has been observed on site. From a practical point of view, a pioneering team has already been present, on site, in Kiev, since July, ensuring the preparation of the work.

Misleading terminology

The objective was (very) badly translated from English. It is not a question, here, of "civil security" in the usual sense understood in French and in the "Mediterranean" countries, that is to say the means (firefighters, civil protection, etc.) suitable for ensuring the safety of civilians against natural or man-made disasters. But the training of internal security forces: police, border guards, law enforcement and national guard. In other words, a mission with high political risk.

An additional commitment

The Europeans are thus showing a determination to help the Ukrainians concretely to rebuild their State. Because that's what it's all about. After political support and an association agreement, humanitarian aid (73 million euros), commercial aid via a free trade agreement (provisionally applied), financial support (an envelope of 1,6 billion euros), the Europeans are getting involved a little more, and this time directly. A hundred men and women - police, diplomats or security experts - will form the heart of the mission, under the command of the Hungarian economist, and former special representative of the EU in Moldova, Kalman Mizsei.

Reestablishing a "rule of law": a real challenge

According to a European official, whom B2 was able to speak to, reforming the police is a “challenge”. Reporting lines are not very effective. The central government does not control all of its forces. The level of corruption, especially in the traffic police, is and the greater ". And the traces of a police force, which was intended to be "more political" and "militarized" than civil, emerge. In some regions, it is oligarchs who have raised their own forces, pay for them and maintain order. Basically, a situation between the modern world and the feudal world, with a touch of the Soviet system not yet reformed. In fact, it is a question of helping Ukraine to become a "State of law", as the logo, derived from that adopted by the EULEX Kosovo mission, recalls. And the two-year mandate given to the mission will probably not be enough to complete all the reforms. No one has any illusions on this point in European circles. As a European diplomat recently recalled, “ we cannot claim to reform in 2 years which requires more than ten years for us ».

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)

(1) Which gave rise to some croquignolesque discussions. Read : EUAM Ukraine let's go

A mission closely followed on the B2 Club, read:

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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