EU Training Mission in Somalia gets new mission commander

Press Release

Brigadier General Antonio Maggi has been appointed new Mission Commander for the EU Training Mission in Somalia (EUTM Somalia).

General Maggi, from Italy, takes up his duties on 8 March 2015. He will succeed Brigadier General Massimo Mingiardi, who had been in the position since December 2013.

EUTM Somalia, launched in spring 2010, is part of the EU’s comprehensive approach for a stable, democratic and prosperous Somalia and embedded in the EU strategic framework for the Horn of Africa. It has contributed to training over 4.000 Somali troops so far, with a special focus on officers, specialists and trainers.

The mission delivers political and strategic advice to the Somali ministry of defence and the chief of defence forces on security sector development. It also advises on military training so as to lay the foundations of a Somali-owned military training system. Since January 2014, the mission has been based in Mogadishu, Somalia.

The decision was taken by the Council’s Political and Security Committee.