Türkiye: EU’s Ukraine military training mission lacks ‘strategic thinking’

EU neglected to consult with Türkiye before launching mission to train 15,000 Ukrainian troops, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu says.

Türkiye has criticised the European Union’s lack of engagement with Ankara regarding a new military training mission for Ukraine.

“The European Union, first, I have to say that we (Türkiye) are very happy see the unity within the EU and NATO. The EU announced a new security training mission for Ukraine. And yet again, it ignored consulting with Türkiye before launching that mission,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said at the Aspen-GMF Bucharest Forum on Tuesday in Romania.

On November 14, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced that EU foreign ministers were expected to give the green light for a training mission for some 15,000 Ukrainian troops.

Cavusoglu said that while it was not “important” whether Türkiye would be part of the mission, said this was “an example of how the EU lost its strategic thinking because of the narrow interests of a few members states.”

“I say we don’t need (to be part of the mission) because individually, everybody knows how much we are supporting Ukraine,” he added.