The event was headed by the Minister of Defence of Mozambique, Jaime Bessa Neto and by Major-general Hermínio Maio, Deputy Director of the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC) of the European Union (EU), the structure responsible for commanding the EU's non-executive military missions, and attended by the Portuguese Minister of Defence, João Gomes Cravinho.

Mozambican civil and military dignitaries and representatives of European Union member-states attended the ceremony, enhancing the event and highlighting the interest in this new EU mission in Africa, the first in Mozambique.

The ceremony, which was attended by military personnel from the three branches of the FADM, who are now starting training with a view to future integration in a Quick Reaction Force, a strategic objective of the EUTM, was a clear demonstration of the combined interests and efforts that the EU and Mozambique wish to unite around the protection of the civilian population and the re-establishment of security in Cabo Delgado, ravaged in recent years by extreme armed violence.

The EU and Mozambique are connected in the same aim, as the Mission Force Commander, Brigadier-General Nuno Lemos Pires pointed out. He used the expression "estamos juntos” (“we are together") as the motto adopted by the force he leads, due to the way in which they have felt welcomed and integrated by the Mozambican side.

Training will start in the Maputo area, for Mozambican Marines and soldiers trained as Tactical Air Control Parties (TACP) of the Mozambican Air Force, and in Chimoio, for soldiers from the Army's special forces.For two years, the mandate of this mission, 11 companies of special forces will be trained at operational level. They will also receive specialised training in counter-terrorism and in the other important matters to ensure the protection of the population and compliance with international humanitarian law and human rights, particularly with regard to the protection of women and children, in order to be able to operate autonomously in situations such as the one that affecting Cabo Delgado, in line with the protection of the population, particularly in support of the most vulnerable people.