The Ministry of Defence organised its presidency seminar in the framework of the sectoral preparatory training for EU Presidency for the fifth time on 30th June, 2010. At the event Colonel János Tomolya, head of the Unit for Operations, Defence Policy Department, as well as Viktória Nyulász, desk officer of the Unit for Operations, gave lectures on the EU’s operations in Africa and the reasons of the conflicts in the continent.

Opening the seminar, Colonel Antal Szöllősi, deputy head of the Defence Policy Department, emphasized in relation of the EU Presidency preparations that Virág Szonja Váradi, member of the Defence Policy Department will work as a presidency liaison person in the Belgian Ministry of Defence from the 1st July, 2010. Her activity will foster the cooperation between the two ministries and during her stay in Belgium she will gain important experiences in order to successfully conduct the Hungarian Presidency. Viktória Nyulász briefed on the recent and the already accomplished EU operations in Africa. She highlighted that each operation has had a different mandate, task and mission. Generally speaking the EU has to develop a more active crisis management routine. Hungary has participated with small strength in these operations.

Referring to the recently launched EUTM Somalia operation, she said that Somalia does not have a state organisation, and belongs to the group of failed states. The internationally recognized transitional federal government is attempting to maintain an army. The first EU training mission was launched to train these Somali security forces. The EU plans to train 1000 persons in the framework of a general NCO training during two half-year terms, thus contributing to the formation of the future land forces of 30,000 personnel and the navy with 5000 personnel. The training takes place in Uganda and has already begun. The schedule seems to be sustainable even if the establishment of the training infrastructure is somewhat delayed.

Col. János Tomolya analysed the reasons leading to crisis situations and conflicts in Africa. The continent is afflicted by poverty and as a heritage of the colonial past, underdevelopment, however, it is very rich in mineral resources. The continent has been, because of the latter, characterised by a constant presence and rivalry of great powers. While the poverty index has improved in the Asian countries, the situation in the Sub-Saharan areas has not evolved, with 50 percent of the Africans living on less than 1 USD per day. Nine out of the ten poorest countries of the world can be found in Africa. Africa has the highest population growth rate and the rate of inhabitants under 25 years is here the highest (71%). It is the heritage of the colonial past that the newly independent countries are economically dependent on and sign ‘defence agreements’ with countries outside of Africa (e.g. the US, France) that have thus a military presence in the continent.

János Tomolya emphasized the situation in Darfur and the ethnic and economic reasons of the crisis. The clashes between the muslim population living in the northern part of Sudan and the black population living in the southern region have led to ethnic cleansing. Besides the ethnic dimension, another important reason for the conflict was that the oilfields are situated in the south but the oil refineries are in the north. The situation of the internally displaced persons is still unsolved, they are accommodated in temporary refugee camps. The neighbouring countries are not able to manage the situation due to the flow of refugees either.

The mineral stock in Africa is fascinatingly huge and extremely valuable in the 21st century. The continent is rich in platinum, gold, diamond, cobalt, phosphate and several other minerals. Africa has an enormous amount of oil and more importantly its greater part of it has not been exploited yet. Since the United States and China are strongly dependent on oil, this is a very precious area for them. The lecturer drew the attention to another serious problem, namely the lack of drinking water. In Africa the water supply is catastrophic and it can be worse in the future. The Nile could become a potential source of conflict. As Ethiopia has built waterworks and reservoirs, Sudan and Egypt receive less water through the river. This could lead to armed conflicts between these countries.

Colonel Tomolya touched upon the problems related to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The country has been divided into several parts by the rebels pouring in from Uganda and Rwanda. Presently, the new central government has concentrated power in the country. The DRC is characterised by huge poverty, a low level of infrastructure, and rich mineral stocks. According to the Global Peace Index, there are seven countries in Africa where the crisis indexes are at a critical level: Somalia, Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic, Niger, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zimbabwe. It is very important that in all these countries elections are to be expected in 2010 or 2011.

Concerning the Hungarian Defence Forces, we can plan the strength in demand for operations within the framework provided by the Concept of Operations. As an independent force – in an independent area of responsibility – one company can take part in an African operation at the maximum. However, as a supplementary unit – e.g. force protection – one or two platoons, water purifying and medical troops, special forces as well as reconnaissance troops can play part in operations. The reserve strength for the Presidency period consists of 50 persons, the condition of their deployment being a decision by the Minister of Defence.