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Latest news from EU peacekeeping missions and operations – CSDP (May 2020)

(B2) Planning meetings, information exchanges, force rotations, expertise. CSDP operations and missions are in 'slow' mode, but are trying to maintain contact

Djibouti. Unceremonious change of command in Somalia

Rear Admiral Ignacio Villanueva has taken command of the military force for the fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean (EUNAVFOR Atalanta). An unusual rotation. There " first performed successfully during the Covid-19 pandemic ", but without ceremony, and for which he became " unwittingly the first immune force commander in theater ". Details here

(credit: EUNAVFOR Somalia)

Pristina (Kosovo). Search for the missing, a long-term task

311 missing persons have been identified in the more than ten years since the start of the EU rule of law mission in Kosovo (EULEX Kosovo). A meticulous work, slow but necessary. Hundreds of people are still missing as a result of the armed conflict. It is " a painful, complicated and long process “, explains the head of EULEX, Lars-Gunnar Wigemark, in an interview with the Associated Press agency. Details here

(credit: Eulex Kosovo)

Ramallah (Palestinian). The unexpected impact of the coronavirus on the Palestinian justice system

Currently in the West Bank it is not possible to submit documents or hold hearings online. The Covid-19 crisis could be an opportunity to accelerate this digitization process. This is what lawyer Andres Moreno defends. He coordinated a report delivered to the Palestinian judicial institutions on the measures taken by the judicial systems in Europe and North America to respond to the crisis; a report produced with numerous advisers from the civilian mission to advise and assist the Palestinian police (EUPOL COPPS). Details here

(credit: EUPOL Copps)

Bamako (Mali). Exchange of information between forces 

Like every four weeks, the operational coordination meeting (RCO) was held in mid-May. Organized by members of the permanent representation of Operation Barkhane in Mali, it brings together representatives of the Malian Armed Forces (FAMa), the European Armed Forces Training Mission in Mali (EUTM Mali), Barkhane and the of the United Nations (MINUSMA). The goal: to exchange information on the security situation, the operations in progress carried out by the various actors, the training actions of EUTM Mali and other subjects of common interest. Details here

(credit: EUTM Mali)

Niamey (Niger). Distribution of codes to future professionals

Future commissioners and judicial police officers trained by the civilian assistance mission for internal security forces (EUCAP Sahel Niger) received a penal code, a code of criminal procedure, and an explanatory manual of the penal code and the code of procedure Criminal. Details here

(credit: EUCAP Sahel Niger)

Bosnia and Herzegovina. Exercise Quick Response 20 before fall

Despite the covid-19, the exercise annual exercise Quick Response 20 will take place this year. It will take place between the end of August and the beginning of September 2020, in different locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Officers participated in the planning conference on Friday, May 29, by videoconference, from Naples and Rome in Italy, Mons in Belgium, London in the United Kingdom and KFOR in Pristina in Kosovo. Details here

An Antonov to transport the mission vehicles (credit: EUFOR Atlhea)

(information collected by Emmanuelle Stroesser)

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Emmanuelle Stroesser

A journalist for magazines and the press, Emmanuelle specializes in humanitarian issues, development, asylum and migration and human rights.

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