Political and humanitarian situation in Mozambique

Subject: Political and humanitarian situation in Mozambique

The recent election process in Mozambique, surrounded by suspicions of fraud, has generated a wave of protests and left behind a vast amount of destruction. Besides the political crisis, Mozambique is also facing a humanitarian crisis. Since 2017, the north of Mozambique has seen terrorist attacks connected to the Islamic State, displacing more than half a million people – half of whom children. The European Peace Facility, which was originally designed to assist African countries, has been increasingly redirected to respond to the war in Ukraine.

1. Is the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) willing to introduce future measures to assist countries like Mozambique, including by supplying lethal means, such as light and anti- drone weapons, and hybrid means, such as armoured vehicles and strategic

reconnaissance drones, to improve the country’s capacity to fight terrorism?

2. Does the VP/HR acknowledge that perceived double standards in the distribution of aid by the European Peace Facility could compromise Mozambique’s capacity to effectively combat terrorism linked to the Islamic State and weaken the European Union’s credibility in the support for its African partners?

Submitted: 5.12.2024

Answer given by High Representative/Vice-President Kallas on behalf of the European Commission (5 February 2025)

The European Peace Facility (EPF) is a EUR 17 billion instrument to assist partners worldwide in military and defence matters. Although it is the successor instrument of the African Peace Facility, the EPF’s geographic scope was never limited to the African continent.

Excluding aid to Ukraine, 80% of the value of all EPF assistance measures benefit African partners. Mozambique is one of the largest EPF beneficiaries, with EUR 89 million allocated to non-lethal equipment and training of its armed forces through the EU Training Mission in Mozambique.

On 1 September 2024, the mission was renamed EU Military Assistance Mission Mozambique and got an additional allocation of EUR 14.1 million.

In addition, the EPF is supporting the deployment of the Rwanda Defence Force to Mozambique with EUR 40 million and has supported the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique with another EUR 15 million.

The EPF is a needs-based and beneficiary-driven instrument. Priorities are proposed by the High Representative on an annual basis and agreed by Member States.

The equipment to be provided to a given beneficiary corresponds to operational needs and is defined in close cooperation with the end-user units. EPF support to Ukraine is now financed through a dedicated EUR 5 billion Ukraine Assistance Fund and through extraordinary revenues stemming from immobilised Russian assets (windfall profits).

As noted above, the EPF is a global instrument and support to Ukraine does not come at the expense of African, or other partners. The standards laid out in the EPF Council Decision (1) apply equally to all EPF beneficiaries.

1 ∙ ⸱ Council Decision (CFSP) 2021/509 of 22 March 2021 establishing a European Peace Facility, and repealing Decision (CFSP) 2015/528, https://eur-

lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2021/509/oj/eng