Lieutenant General Michiel van der Laan is director of the EUEuropean Union's MPPC (Military Planning and Conduct Capability) and thus responsible for all EUEuropean Union military missions.
5 Questions to Michiel van der Laan
Lieutenant General
Bundeswehr / Anne Weinrich
Major Björn Lenz
General, you have only recently taken command of the MPCC. What is your first impression of the mission?
I took over on June 29, not even a month ago. But my first impressions are very good. I have seen in Strausberg that there is very close cooperation with the MPCC in Brussels and also with CAT-C in Poland. This triangle works, and I see that everywhere the soldiers are very motivated and committed.
What pleased me most during my visit to the ST-C is the motivation of the Ukrainians and their satisfaction with what they have done here.
Major Björn Lenz
What is the importance of the training mission for the EUEuropean Union?
The mission is very important for the EUEuropean Union.
First, EUMAM UAEuropean Union Military Assistance Mission Ukraine is the first mission on EUEuropean Union territory – although formally only temporarily. So far, the MPCC missions have been outside the EUEuropean Union territory.
Second, it shows that we can conduct an integrated operation together with civilian actors. There is not only our training mission, but also a large number of other measures has been taken by the EUEuropean Union. I think that's also the strength of the EUEuropean Union, that we have all these instruments - not only military, but also economic, political, economic, and so on.
Third, the mission shows the solidarity of the EUEuropean Union countries, and also outside the EUEuropean Union - Norway, for example, is also part of this mission. This solidarity is very important. First, for Ukraine, so that the citizens there see that Europe as a whole is providing support, and second, so that the people in Europe also see that we are doing this together. I think that's why this mission is so important.
The most important thing is that we support Ukraine and its struggle. It is more or less our fight, because security in Europe without security in Ukraine is very questionable.
Major Björn Lenz
From your point of view, how important is the training mission for the Ukrainian side, especially for its success?
I just spoke with three Ukrainian soldiers, all three of whom have combat experience. They are very satisfied with the training at the tactical level. They say the training is relevant and of good quality. And they believe it will be helpful once they go back to Ukraine.
You can also measure that by the requests for trainings. If there are no more requests coming from the Ukrainian side, something is wrong. But the fact that the training is accepted does not mean that we cannot improve. I therefore hope that we will receive more feedback from the Ukrainians.
Major Björn Lenz
What can the EUEuropean Union learn from the mission and from Ukraine?
I think we can learn some things from Ukraine's struggle. But we will only really do that after the war. When we sit down together and also talk about tactical and operational aspects. Then we will learn what was effective, what was not effective, and so on.
What we can learn from the Ukrainians right now is motivation. It's incredible, and I think the resistance to Russia is very big. Not only we as soldiers, but the whole civilian population in Europe can learn from that. We just talked to the soldiers here and then the question came, 'Where are your families?' The answer was that they are in Ukraine because they are where the soldiers are fighting. Their women, their children are supporting their men.
Major Björn Lenz
What is your intention in the next six months? What will be changed, what will be added, what will remain?
We can maybe tweak our training modules a little bit here and there.
And we have to stay flexible. Ukraine's requests could change at any time. We may also do fighter training under the EUMAMEuropean Union Military Assistance Mission flag in the future.
Our motto is that we have to stick together and be flexible. You never know what tomorrow will bring.
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