European Union Force Chad and the Central African Republic (EUFOR Chad and the Central African Republic), also EUFOR Tchad/RCA after the French, was the European Union mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR), authorised in late 2007. EUFOR Chad/CAR was authorised under the same United Nations Security Council resolution that mandated MINURCAT, a UN force tasked with training police and improving judicial infrastructure.
The European Union Force's mandate included "to take all necessary measures, within its capabilities and its area of operation in eastern Chad and the north-eastern Central African Republic" to protect civilians, facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid and ensure the safety of UN personnel. The military operation was approved by the Council of the European Union on 15 October 2007. The EU operation commander was Lieutenant General Patrick Nash of the Irish Defence Forces. The force was announced to be 4,300 troops strong. Out of these, 3,700 troops were deployed in the area of operations, and a strategic reserve of 600 troops was stationed in Europe.
The mission started to deploy in February 2008, reaching its Initial Operational Capability on 15 March 2008. On 15 March 2009, a UN force took over under the MINURCAT mandate.
Contributors
The operation headquarters was located in Mont Valérien, France, in a completely dedicated structure. The Force Headquarters was in N'Djamena and Abéché with forward bases in Goz Beïda (South), Farchana (Centre), Iriba (North) and a smaller one in Birao (CAR) (See map). The multinational EU force commander was Irish Lieutenant General Patrick Nash. At its full operational capability, the force was 3,700 strong. France, the largest component of the EUFOR Tchad/RCA, provided a battalion of 2,000 soldiers and 500 support units. Other large contingents were the Irish and Polish – 450 and 400 strong, respectively. In addition to 14 European Union member states in the field, 19 in theatre and 22 at the operation headquarters (23 in total), three third countries took part in the mission: Albania, Croatia, and Russia.
Neither Germany nor the United Kingdom deployed any troops on the ground, highlighting limited consensus on the mission among the big three member states despite the unanimous adoption and implementation of the Joint Action by the Council of the European Union. Denmark does not participate on the Common Security and Defence Policy and therefore did not take part in planning, financing and implementation of this mission.
Contributors include (with number of troops committed): Albania – 60 troops Austria – 160 troops, 50 special forces of the Jagdkommando Belgium – 100 troops, 22 special forces of the Special Forces Group, one C-130 transport aircraft + airforce personnel Bulgaria – Two officers Croatia – 15 special forces (Special Operations Battalion) Estonia – 55 troops Finland – 60 troops France – 2,000 troops, eight helicopters, 500 soldiers providing logistical support<ref name=dispel/> Germany – Four Greece – Four Ireland – 450 troops, including 50 Army Ranger Wing (special forces) operatives and two helicopters Italy – 100 troops (Medical Role 2) Netherlands – 60 Marines Poland – 400 troops 16 KTO Rosomak APCs, three Mi-17 helicopters and one C-295 transport aircraft. Portugal – One C-130H with 30 Air Force personnel Romania – 120 troops Slovenia – 15 special forces (ESD) including one in EUFOR HQ in France Spain – Two Tactical Transport Aircraft (CASA 295) with 100 troops Sweden – 202 Swedish Marines and a small group from the Särskilda skyddsgruppen (SSG) United Kingdom – Four
Deployment
The mission dealt with logistical difficulties from the beginning. Originally scheduled to be launched in November 2007, the mission was delayed by the lack of equipment and money and the preparations continued only after the French promised another 500 support units and 10 helicopters. Chad and the CAR are landlocked countries and the area of operation was on their eastern border (some 2,400 kilometres from the Atlantic coastline, of which only could be crossed by rail). This required the use of harbours and territory of Cameroon and airlifting the rest to N'Djamena as the Abéché airport in the theatre was not considered safe. Major technical support, especially the transportation of daily needs of the troops (such as food and water), were provided by the permanent French mission to Chad. Deployment was not made any easier by limited infrastructure, the vastness of the area of operations, the inability of the government of Chad to provide basic supplies for the mission and the severe climate.