European Union Common Security and Defence Policy Missions and Operations Annual Report 2022

The report provides an overview of all 21 military and civilian CSDP operations and missions. For each mission, it describes their mandate, considering recent developments, and summarises their achievements and activities. The report also makes mention of regional developments of the environment in which the missions are conducted – the Eastern neighbourhood, the Western Balkans, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and Central and Southern Africa.

The report looks at all civilian missions and their mandate and context and mentions some activities that have been completed in 2022. The missions are grouped into 7 regions of engagement – the 7 main chapters of the report. The regions’ contexts are assessed at the beginning of each chapter. 

The report starts by highlighting the vision of the Strategic Compass adopted in March 2022. The objective of increased effectiveness and agility was successfully implemented in the Eastern Neighbourhood when 200 civilian experts were deployed to Ukraine within 30 days. EUAM Ukraine was able to quickly adapt activities after the Russian invasion to include border management and the investigation and prosecution of war crimes while still advising on civilian security sector reform (SSR). EUMM Georgia continued to contribute to stability in Georgia and the region by monitoring the border region between Georgia and Russia and facilitating dialogue between Georgia, Russia and de facto authorities of South Ossetia. Additionally, the mission deployed staff to Armenia to advance confidence building measures between Azerbaijan and Armenia and to prepare for the start of EUM Armenia which was deployed in January 2023. 

In the Western Balkans, EULEX Kosovo further pursued the strengthening of rule of law institutions and was able to contribute to de-escalating tensions in northern Kosovo, especially during the crisis in December 2022. To this end, strategic communication was successfully utilised, and patrols were carried out. 

The report sees the Mediterranean as being particularly relevant to the EU and Libya as an important partner in the region – even with the ongoing conflict in the country. Despite the lack of stability, EUBAM Libya developed the Libyan border management by capacity building, strategic planning and reforming institutions. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has demanded the suspension of large parts of the work in late 2021. 

In the Middle East, the EU is supporting Palestinian state building with EUPOL COPPS and EUBAM Rafah to enable a two-state solution. Among other tasks, EUPOL COPPS assists the authorities of Palestine to reform the security and judicial sector. EUBAM Rafah focusses on building border management capacities since the initial mandate – being a third-party presence at the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza strip and Egypt – was no longer pursued after the Hamas take-over. EUAM Iraq advises Iraqi ministries and the relevant committee on SSR. This task is now also carried out in the Iraqi Kurdistan region with the recently established office in Erbil. 

Two civilian missions and the Regional Advisory and Coordination Cell (RACC) are present in the Sahel next to EUTM Mali. EUCAP Sahel Mali supports SSR and the reestablishment of the administration throughout the territory. However, the recent political developments and deterioration of the security situation have resulted in the mission’s activities being scaled back. EUCAP Sahel Niger’s strong focus lies on working with internal security forces on capacity building to fight terrorism, organised crime and counter migration. Seminars on human rights and gender aspects are mentioned briefly next to support for regionalisation efforts. 

Positive signs like the peace process in Ethiopia and progress in the fight against Al-Shabaab as well as political reforms in Somalia are reasons for cautious optimism for some countries in the Horn of Africa. However, effects of climate change – droughts in Somalia, northern Kenya and Ethiopia, floods in Sudan and South Sudan – and the crisis in Sudan are negatively affecting the region. EUCAP Somalia is engaged in the Somalian peace processes on multiple levels. The mission supports the planning of responses to Somalia’s different security challenges, the strengthening of state legitimacy and the reinforcement of regional cooperation. The mission operates in Somaliland, Puntland and Mogadishu. 

In Central Africa, the relationship between the government of the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Wagner group impacted the CSDP missions in their engagement with CAR authorities. Nevertheless, SSR, mainstreaming human rights and gender equality and coordinating with other actors to build an integrated approach remains at the heart of the EUAM RCA mandate and activities. 

Reference: European External Action Service (2023). European Union Common Security and Defence Policy Missions and Operations Annual Report 2022. 

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