Commander of the ‘Somali’ battalion, an armed separatist group involved in the fighting in eastern Ukraine.

For example he informed the Panel that 2 Mi-24 attack helicopters were brought unauthorized into Darfur between 18 and 21 September 2005.

The EU is on the way to developing into a Security and Defence Union, covering external, as well as internal, aspects of security, the fight against international terrorism and natural disaster management with the following elements: the commitment of the Member States to be able to deploy 60 000 soldiers within 60 days and sustain them for one year for peacekeeping and peacemaking operations, the building-up of 13 battle groups deployable at short notice, the development of capabilities for civilian crisis management in the area of police operations, the rule of law, civilian administration and civil protection, a European str ...[+++]ucture of command consisting of a Political and Security Committee, a Military Committee, a Military Staff and a Civilian and Military Cell with a nascent Operations Centre, the European Gendarmerie Force, the European Defence Agency, Europol, the European arrest warrant, common rules for arms procurement and arms exports, and a European security research programme.

· creation of EU Battle Groups, Gendarmerie Force, intervention forces, autonomous EU command structures following the NATO model;

28. Notes that the continuing development of the Battle Groups will address the first deficiency in large measure; notes that the planned construction of the A400 M transport aircraft will not resolve the second deficiency completely and urges that measures be taken to address the deficiency further; urges, nonetheless, that consideration be given to establishing a rotation scheme for the deployment of forces; demands, in view of a rotation scheme of this kind, common standards in training, for instance a ...[+++]s regards helicopters; considers that operational capability could be increased and costs reduced by a joint training system; urges strongly, as regards the final deficiency, that measures be taken to enable the EU to conduct missions requiring the assistance of military forces without recourse to NATO or to any single Member State's resources; points out that such measures could realistically entail the pooling of existing resources and capabilities within the Member States with the goal of establishing a dual-use communications base or network at the service of the ESDP;

28. Notes that the continuing development of the ‘Battle Groups’ will address the first deficiency in large measure; notes that the foreseen construction of the A400 M transport aircraft will not resolve the second deficiency completely and urges that measures be undertaken to address the deficiency further; urges, nonetheless, that consideration be given to establishing a rotation scheme for the deployment of forces; demands, in view of a rotation scheme of this kind, common standards in training, as rega ...[+++]rds helicopters, for instance; operational capability could be increased and costs reduced by a joint training system; urges strongly, in regard to the final deficiency, that measures be undertaken to enable the EU to conduct missions requiring the assistance of military forces without recourse to NATO or any single Member State’s resources; points out that such measures could realistically entail the pooling of existing resources and capabilities within the Member States with the goal of establishing a dual-use communications base or network at the service of the ESDP;