Training mission for Ukraine – Will the EU become a war party?

The EU is stepping up its involvement in the Ukraine war, risking becoming a war party. On Monday, the EU foreign ministers want to decide on a training mission for around 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Luxembourg.

In Germany alone, 5,000 men and women are to be trained, for example in mine clearance, medical services and military tactics. The aim of the mission is - according to the confidential crisis management concept of the European External Action Service - that "Ukraine is able to carry out combat operations to defend territorial integrity and sovereignty independently".

The training program, officially named “European Mission to Ukraine Military Assistance Mission” (EUMAM UA), is scheduled to start in the second half of November. "We've already lost time. The sooner the training starts, the better,” said the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the EU Parliament, David McAllister (CDU), WELT.

He described the planned training mission as a "very important step towards substantially strengthening Ukraine's defense capabilities". At the same time, however, McAllister demanded: “It is crucial that the training of Ukrainian soldiers is closely coordinated with our NATO allies. The activities of the EU and NATO must be complementary.”

In order to minimize the security risk of Russia attacking the training measures, the training will not take place in Ukraine, but primarily in Germany and Poland. But there should also be courses in other EU countries.

According to WELT information, there had been a heated debate between Berlin and Warsaw for days during the secret deliberations of the responsible Political and Security Committee (PSK): The Polish government insisted that there should only be one operational headquarters for the new mission in Poland, Germany, on the other hand, called for a second training command (Special Training Command) to be set up in this country.

President Selenskyj speaks of difficulties in the east of the country. "The situation in Cherson is particularly precarious," explains Russia correspondent Christoph Wanner. "The Ukrainian attacks have slowed down significantly." Are the troops running out of air, or is there something else behind it?

The controversy had recently escalated to such an extent that the chairman of the EU military committee, four-star general Robert Brieger, was temporarily unable to give any generally accepted military advice. Ultimately, however, Berlin prevailed, even if the majority of Ukrainian soldiers will soon be trained in Poland.

A second operational headquarters was not actually planned in the crisis management concept of the European External Action Service. In Poland, the Ukrainian armed forces are now to be trained in defense against chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, in dealing with cyber attacks, in repairing weapons, in urban combat, but also in questions of air defense and artillery use.

The training of Ukrainian soldiers is urgently needed: the armed forces are currently in the fourth wave of mobilization, men over 45 are now also being enlisted. In essence, this means that Ukraine lacks well-trained soldiers. That is why EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell had already discussed a training mission in August.

In addition to training, the EU also wants to increase its military aid for Ukraine from the European Peace Facility (EPF) by a further 500 million euros to a total of three billion euros. Since the EPF fund – from which the EU finances its contributions to peace-building in third countries – will soon be empty with a total of 5.6 billion euros by 2027, the first talks are now beginning behind the scenes, the sum to ten to twelve increase billions of euros. However, Berlin is still slowing down on this issue.

At the same time, committee chief McAllister called on member states to increase their bilateral military aid. “All member states must provide their fair share of military assistance. Further hesitation will prolong the war and cost the lives of innocent civilians in Ukraine.”

This is likely to mean France and Italy in particular, whose arms deliveries to Ukraine are considered “completely insufficient” in Brussels. McAllister told WELT that the European Parliament "proposes for further support that Ukraine temporarily borrow modern weapons from the West." The EU could provide the funds to pay for the rental costs.”

The question of whether the EU itself will become a war party as a result of the new training mission remains open. A legal opinion of the German Bundestag from March states: "If, in addition to the supply of weapons, the briefing of a conflict party or training in such weapons were also an issue, one would leave the secure area of ​​non-warfare." However, whether that means at the same time The legal experts in the Bundestag left it open that the EU would then become a war party.