Atlantic Council

From Marian Chiriac, Balkan Insight:  Romania's Supreme Defence Council, CSAT, announced on Tuesday that it was sending 10 officers to join the European Union mission in Mali to help train local foces. . . .

The EU recently announced plans to send a training mission to the north African country, which has been hit by an Islamist insurgency that prompted military intervention by the former colonial power, France.

The EU mission will comprise about 250 trainers and a further 200 “force protectors.” The mission is expected to be up and running by the end of next month.

The CSAT also decided to cut troop numbers for missions abroad this year by 312. Some 2,036 Romanian troops currently service in missions abroad, among whom are more than 1,700 soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, mostly in the restive south. . . .

Last year, Romania sent a frigate and 207 troops to enforce an arms embargo on Libya and spent around €4.5 million keeping the frigate running for three months in the Mediterranean.