A Belgian police officer (re)takes the helm of the EUCAP Sahel Niger mission

(B2 - exclusive) As stated in our Notebook (30.04.2018), the Belgian police officer Frank Van Der Mueren was indeed appointed, Wednesday (2 May), head of the European mission EUCAP Sahel Niger (mission to strengthen the capacities of the internal security forces). He replaces, from May 1, for an indefinite period, the Finnish Kirsi Henriksson who left office last March (read: Notebook 23.02.2018).

Several years of mission in the Sahel for the European Union

A member of the Belgian federal police (judicial police section), F. Van Der Mueren has carried out several European missions. He was head of the 'Rule of law' team for EUCAP Sahel Niger at the start of the mission in July 2012 for a year, then liaison officer in Mali (June 2013 to July 2014) and, finally, deputy head of the EUCAP Sahel Mali mission.

A specialist in judicial police operations

A graduate in criminology with a master's degree obtained in 1983 after a bachelor's degree in political and social sciences, he then attended the school of criminology for officers (1996-1997). After various positions, in 2001 he joined the DSU, the General Commissariat of Special Units of the Federal Police (January 2001 - August 2006) then moved to the Federal Judicial Police (2006-2012) before reaching the rank of super-intendant in August 2014 and become the head of the judicial police operations coordination center (DJO).

A retroactive decision without a deadline

The decision was approved by the Political and Security Committee (COPS) on Wednesday (2 May), with retroactive effect from 1 May pending official formalization by publication in the Official Journal. No end date of mandate is mentioned in the decision (which is exceptional to say the least). This means that the duration of the function of the head of mission falls within the framework of the duration of the mission. The current mandate of EUCAP Sahel Niger ends on July 15, 2018 but it should normally be extended before this date. The function of F. Van Der Mueren could therefore be extended beyond this date, as it had been for his compatriot in 2014, Filip de Ceuninck, first appointed from May to July 2014, then extended from 'a year.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)