Question for written answer E-000910/2020/rev.1 to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Rule 138 Dominique Bilde (ID)

Subject: against Islamist terrorism in the Sahel, and European support

According to Jeune Afrique, on 23 July 2019, General Hanena Ould Sidi, who had commanded the Group of Five Sahel Joint Force for barely one year, has left his post, a move which Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz, then President of Mauritania, intended as a way of ‘protesting about the lack of funding which in his opinion was afflicting the force’ 1 .

France has been militarily involved in the Sahel since 2013, deploying some 4 000 men (2017) 2 . The was established in January 2014 around Burkina Faso, , Mauritania, and Chad 3 .

However, the international aid pledged, particularly at the Brussels conference of February 2018, has largely failed to materialise, as the military contributions made by Member States have proven insufficient.

Le Figaro has reported, for example, that: ‘only Estonia [...] has announced a doubling of its contingent. [...] Denmark has stepped up its support with the arrival of two Merlin helicopters’. Germany, for its part, has apparently refused to join the European ‘Takuba’ Task Force 4 .

1. How does the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative explain Germany’s refusal to participate in the Takuba Task Force?

2. How does Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative envisage compensating for a possible UK withdrawal from the Sahel as a result of Brexit?

1 https://www.jeuneafrique.com/mag/809555/politique/financement-du-g5-sahel-pourquoi-aziz-a-ecourte-la- mission-du-patron-de-la-force-conjointe/ 2 https://www.letemps.ch/monde/loperation-barkhane-un-bouclier-fragile-sahel 3 https://www.defense.gouv.fr/operations/barkhane/dossier-de-reference/operation-barkhane 4 https://www.lefigaro.fr/international/florence-parly-au-sahel-pour-batir-une-coalition-internationale-20200119

PE648.815v02-00