17 Feb 2006: ISS Today: DRC: EU Military Planners Charged with Preparations for Congo Mission

17 FEBRUARY 2006: DRC; EU military planners charged with preparations for Congo mission”
Hellen Mukiibi, Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA)

 

European Union governments have instructed their military planners to study details of the bloc’s plans to deploy troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo, EU diplomats said Wednesday. “The EU military committee will study modalities of the EU deployment and report back next week.” The EU has been asked by the United Nations to send troops to Congo ahead of elections set for April 29.

 

Commentary

 

It came as no surprise when the United Nations (UN) when requested the European Union (EU) to provide a rapid reaction capability ahead of the April 2006 presidential elections in the DRC. For some time now, the UN Mission in the DRC, MONUC, has identified the lack of an effective reaction force as a threat to successfully securing of the election process. MONUC’s overall involvement in the entire election process, including its complex logistics, and its heavy military commitments in the east of the country will seriously restrict their capability to field a effective reaction force should the need arise.

 

The new request asks a lot of the EU, because such a force must stand ready to act on standby for the whole of the UN Mission in Congo. This implies that such a force must be ready to deal with any scenarios such as evacuation of UN or NGO personnel, and violence during or after the election. European countries have already expressed concern both on financial and operational grounds in the context of a deteriorating security situation.

 

If the EU decided to commit a reaction force to the DRC this would come from the EU battle group standby roster, according to agreements within Europe. The battle group formed by France and Germany, and "supported by Member States like Belgium", will be available in 2006, as will the battle group based on Spanish and Italian amphibian units during the first half of 2006, with "Portuguese and Greek capabilities".

 

The military planners are looking at different scenarios including the deployment of between 200 and 1200 soldiers. It is also unsure if the force will be deployed in the DRC or on standby outside the DRC. A decision may be taken next week.

 

Henri Boshoff