Crisis prevention units might be deployed to Sahel: EU's Borrell

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Mar 2023 22:49

Joseph Borrell said that the Sahel region is being investigated in anticipation of the potential deployment of European crisis prevention units.

Joseph Borrell during a hearing at the European parliament 2019 (EP)

Today at the European External Action (EEAS) Schuman Security and Defence Partnership forum, EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell revealed that the Sahel region is being investigated in anticipation of the potential deployment of European crisis prevention units.

"We do not have to run behind the crisis, but to prevent the crisis from happening. The Gulf of Guinea is a case in point. They need urgent support to tackle the spillover of the terrorist threat from the Sahel region," Borrell said.

Borrel explained that the EU adopts a general conception of security, but they aim to develop their efforts at crisis prevention.

"Instead of large military training missions, we need small, agile teams of experts and trainers – from the military but also from the police – that could be deployed quickly to address specific requests for targeted training, advice, intelligence, or equipment. Our planners are currently visiting the countries in the region to put this new approach in motion," Borrell added.

Map of the African Sahel (source: Environment Development and Sustainability)

The Sahel region in Africa covers the continent from end-to-end stretching from Senegal in the west to Ethiopia in the east. For years now, the region has been a hotspot for conflicts, with the mushrooming of extremist groups all across, which has caused the large-scale displacement of the native population and the general destabilization of the region.

Last week, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told Al Mayadeen during an exclusive interview that NATO's intervention in Libya and the support of some terrorist groups contributed to the bolstering and proliferation of terrorism in Mali and the entire African Sahel region.

"It is time for France and all its partners to realize that Africans are perfectly capable of running their countries and choosing their partners based on their national interests" Diop added.

Back in February, during a press conference with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Bamako, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop stressed the necessity to strengthen bilateral ties with Russia in economic matters and opposed western-led sanctions which are aimed at intimidating African countries from conducting trade operations with Russia.

Back in January, Lavrov said that the West is seeking to restore Africa's colonial dependence as they attempt to break the continent's cooperation with Russia.

Echoing the same prospect, African Energy Chamber chairman NJ Ayuk had said back in October that France was concerned with Russia's growing influence in Africa, as Paris considers the continent to be its sphere of influence.