The European Union and Mozambique are exchanging ideas concerning the subject of the EU's military and security assistance to the African nation, an EU spokesperson told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2021) The European Union and Mozambique are exchanging ideas concerning the subject of the EU's military and security assistance to the African nation, an EU spokesperson told Sputnik.
"The request to train Defense and Security Forces, as part of the EU's integrated approach to the crisis, was already under discussion with the Mozambican authorities before the recent events. Further exchanges are now ongoing," the EU spokesperson added.
When called upon by the embattled Southern-African country in September of last year, Mozambique's military and security services were caught off-guard by an attack earlier in March as Islamic State-linked (IS terror organization, banned in Russia) militants stormed the northern town of Palma in the country's hydrocarbon-rich province of Cabo Delgado.
"Further discussions, notably with the Mozambican authorities, will be required to determine the scope of an increased EU support and the shape it will take. The EU will also pay close attention to discussions and decisions at regional level, for example in the framework of [the Southern African Development Community] SADC," the spokesperson added.
The latest in a series of attacks targeting towns in the country's north, the attack on Palma has led many to question the ability of Mozambican authorities to fulfill their earlier commitment in securing Cabo Delgado, prompting French oil and gas giant TOTAL to suspended its LNG project in Afungi in the immediate aftermath of the attack.
