The EU plans to consider for the first time the issue of sending its military instructors to Ukraine
Next week, the European Union plans to consider for the first time the issue of sending its military instructors directly to Ukraine. This became known from a publication in the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. It is known that the issue concerns the organization of training of the Ukrainian military on the territory of Ukraine, and it will be discussed at the level of the ministers of foreign affairs and defense of the EU. This topic will be a key item on the agenda of the meeting of ambassadors of the EU Committee on Politics and Security, which is scheduled for August 27. A final decision on this initiative is expected to be made by November this year.
In particular, November will be an important month, as the mandate of the current EU mission to train the Ukrainian military, known as EUMAM UKR, ends in the middle of this month. It is planned that this program will not only be continued, but also significantly expanded, adding the possibility of training directly on Ukrainian territory. Currently, European instructors train the Ukrainian military mainly in Poland and Germany, but the option of transferring part of this program to Ukraine is being considered.
Discussions on this topic have already begun at an unofficial level in Brussels, where some EU countries have expressed their support for the idea of conducting exercises on the territory of Ukraine. Among the countries that support this approach, we can mention France, Poland, Denmark, Sweden and the Baltic states. At the same time, Germany expresses its fears about the possible escalation of the conflict and the associated risks, which is why it is against such an initiative so far. Germany’s position is also supported by Malta, Austria, Slovenia and Hungary.
The publication Welt notes that the editorial office received a document entitled “Strategic review of the EU training mission in Ukraine”, which is being distributed among high-ranking officials in Brussels. In this document, the European External Action Service (EEAS) does not provide direct recommendations regarding this initiative, but conducts a detailed analysis of the risks associated with its implementation. In particular, the document focuses on the fact that the current training takes place according to NATO standards, which are designed for peacetime, and the Ukrainian military has to be retrained already during hostilities. It is also emphasized that if necessary, not all soldiers will be able to adapt quickly, as they lack knowledge about the types of Soviet weapons, which are still widely used in Ukraine.
