According to a document seen by Reuters, the EU is planning to considerably increase in financial support for an African military mission in Mozambique.
This is due to the increasing threat from Islamist terrorists to attack the country’s gas projects.
Mozambique has been plagued by militant activity in the northern gas rich Cabo Delgado Province since 2017, adjacent to the LNG projects.
A southern African military mission and separate Rwandan troop interventions have managed to halt the militants advance since being deployed last year.
However, the EU said that the situation remains very volatile and smaller scale violent attacks have contiued in various districts.
A paper prepared by the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s de facto foreign ministry, recommended €15 mill of EU funding should be sent to the mission to 2024.
The mission is made up of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which is a bloc of 16 African countries, of which around six send troops to Mozambique.
An EU spokesman confirmed that the additional financial support had been proposed but said that it was still under discussion by the member governments.
This proposal needs the backing of all the 27 members, whose military experts are due to hold a meeting on 25th August.
