Czech Armed Forces in EUTM Mali
The Czech Republic has joined the European Union Training Mission (EUTM) in Mali in a bid to support Armed Forces of the Republic of Mali in their effort to suppress insurgents' activities, and deliver additional military equipment. The deployment was passed by both chambers of the Czech Parliament.
EUTM MALI FORCE COMMAND
On 12 June 2020, the Czech Republic took command of the European Union Training Mission in Mali from Portugal. Brigadier General Frantisek Ridzak will hand over command to Spain in January 2021.
A group of forty members of the Czech personnel forms the core of the training mission headquarter. These are also three civilian experts among soldiers.
Soldiers serving at the headquarters are selected from units across the entire army, from command to combat units at the tactical level. Team members include paramedics, a military physician, a military veterinarian, training specialists, a lawyer, a financial specialist, or a spokesperson. The team has a total of seventeen officers who speak English and French. There are a total of three women in command of the mission.
4th Czech Armed Forces (CAF) Task Force EUTM in Mali
Commander
- Captain Vaclav Otta
Deployment: 11/2020 - 05/2021
While the task of the 1st Czech unit was to guard the EUTM Headquarters in the capital of Bamako in cooperation with Malian and French soldiers, from the 2nd unit the Czechs also train Malian soldiers as instructors.
Commander of the 4th Czech Task Force EUTM assumed the operational task on the 24th November 2020 to serve in Mali for six months.
Czech soldiers closely cooperate with French, Spanish, Malian and German soldiers. They train Malian soldiers at the Koulikoro Training Centre (KTC), approximately 60 km off Bamako.
In the beginning of Czech participation in the mission in 2013, the mandate was for a period of 15 months and up to 50 soldiers. Throughout the years, the Czech Parliament repeatedly prolonged the deployment of the same number of personnel but according to resolutions of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies from May and June 2018, the Czech contribution was reinforced with extra 70 soldiers.
Even though the guard mission of the EUTM HQ Base in Bamako remains the primary one, soldiers also protect KTC, train Malian soldiers, escort convoys and carry out patrol activities. The new unit commanded by Captain Michal Mateju at this moment and fully operational as of the 10th December 2018 is part of a joint Spanish-Czech KTC battalion.
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Previous Czech units in EUTM, Mali
Updated: December 9, 2020