Foreign and defence ministers from several European countries endorsed a plan to train Malian military forces, BBC reported on Thursday (November 15th).

In a joint statement issued Thursday from Paris, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and France said that the EU was "determined to support Mali in restoring the rule of law and re-establishing a fully sovereign democratic government".

The EU Foreign Affairs Council first proposed the initiative to train Malian troops in mid-October.

Any such training mission would "include the full support of the Malian authorities and the definition of an exit strategy", the council said.