LUXEMBOURG - European Union foreign ministers gave the green light on Monday to the deployment of some 2,000 troops charged with helping protect the Democratic Republic of CongoÂ’s watershed July 30 elections. Under an agreement with the United Nations, the EU will contribute around 450 troops on the ground in Congo and most of the rest will be based in neighbouring countries. Those troops will intervene only if asked to by the United Nations.
| So they'll stand around alot, diddle the Congolese girls and watch the place crumble. Smart. |
Germany and France will be the main troop contributors, with Berlin sending 780 troops and Paris some 800. Around 16 other countries including Turkey will also be present. Poland and Spain will send some 100 soldiers each, Sweden 50 and the Netherlands 40, diplomats said.
| Wouldn't it just be better to send a few thousand troops from one Euro country instead of having six of these and a dozen of those? |
Advance units of the European force have begun arriving in Congo. But MondayÂ’s decision will authorise the forceÂ’s German commander to launch full deployment, with the aim of being fully operational about 10 days before the elections.
The vote will be the Democratic Republic of CongoÂ’s first free and fair elections in more than 40 years. But preparations are being overshadowed by an opposition boycott and continued fighting in the east of the country. A 17,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission is trying to help the fledgling army pacify CongoÂ’s lawless east, where militia groups still roam.
The potentially risky mission is controversial notably in Germany, which has stressed that it will have a maximum duration of four months and not foreshadow any long-term EU presence. “My expectation is that these four months will be sufficient,” German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told reporters as he arrived in Luxembourg.
| Don't worry, Wally, Congo will still be there when you leave. Ask Joseph Conrad. |
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