European Union defence ministers were on Monday seeking to fill gaps in the military force they are planning to send to the Democratic Republic Congo (DRC) in support of United Nations peacekeepers during key elections across the vast African nation.
Germany’s Defence Minister Franz-Josef Jung said talks this week had failed to bridge shortfalls in air transport and medical back-up needed for the 1 500-strong mission, which is due to start in July.
Germany and France have taking a lead role in the operation, but Jung said other nations needed to make more contributions.
”It cannot be that only Germany and France develop these activities,” Jung told reporters before the meeting. ”We need to act together.”
The EU force is meant to help UN peacekeepers provide security during The DRC’s elections, which are scheduled to begin with a first round on July 30.
The defence ministers were also expected to discuss a possible increased EU role in supporting international peacekeepers in Sudan’s Darfur region. The UN is hoping to send in a force to Darfur to replace African Union peacekeepers, who have struggled to contain a conflict that has killed more than 180 000 people and displaced 2-million.
European diplomats said the bloc could step up its training for African peacekeepers during the transition and provide more flights to rotate troops from African nations. Senior EU and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation military officers held talks last week to help coordinate efforts by the two organisations in support of peacekeeping efforts.
Under the Congo plan, the EU troops will act as a reserve force for the 16 000 UN troops to be called on to help in emergencies and quell threats to stability.
Apart from about 400 troops, most of them French, to be located in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, the European troops will be based outside of the DRC in a nearby African nation.
Germany and other contributing nations have insisted on other limitations on the type of mission their troops can carry out, and stipulate that the mission will not last more than four months.
Despite such safeguards, nations have been reluctant to commit forces. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana played down talk of difficulties in finding the necessary troops and equipment.
”The preparations are going fine,” Solana said. He said the main need was to find more transport helicopters. — Sapa-AP