On October 10th, 2022, Brigadier General Lino Gonçalves, from Portuguese Army, took over the Command of EUTM RCA, following his appointment by the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the European Union.

In his address to EUTM’s RCA personnel, General Gonçalves highlighted the importance of the mission in support of the build-up of a modernized, effective, ethnically balanced and democratically accountable Armed Forces of the Central African Republic (FACA).

The EUTM CAR was launched on the 16th of July 2016 at the request of the Central African Republic’s government for an initial period of two years. The 28 July 2022, the Council of the European Union renewed the EUTM RCA's mandate, up to the 20 September 2023.

EUTM RCA following its non – executive mandate provides:

• strategic advice to the Central African Republic’s Ministry of Defence and to the FACA General Staff in support of the creation of capable security forces under democratic control;
• advice to training establishments for Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) of the FACA in order to create a capable leadership education system;
• education to the FACA in non-operational domains, including human rights, international humanitarian law, gender issues, the protection of civilians, the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) and the Children and Armed Conflict (CAAC).

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenging political and security situation, the EU’s and EUTM’s RCA work remain highly visible, credible and well appreciated by the CAR political and military authorities, as well as by the international partners for its contribution to the Defence Sector Reform and the capacity building of the Armed Forces of Central Africa.