Brussels, 16/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - The ambassadors of the European Union, meeting within the EU's Political and Security Committee (COPS), held a first exchange of views on Tuesday 14 February on the report submitted by EU experts after their visit to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and to New York to analyse the needs of the United Nations with a view to its election mission in DRC during June this year.
The EU experts identified seven functions that an EU mission could carry out on the ground. These are: making the airport of Kinshasa secure, providing support for the United Nations mission on the ground (MONUC), as well as assisting the Congolese forces in the training of police forces, an official explained. There are various solutions possible for this, beginning with the sending of a force to Kinshasa of between 200 and 450 men, possibly with air support. The men will be stationed four to six months on the ground from the outset of the electoral period. To this may be added a standby force of around 800 men, stationed outside DRC, in Europe or in Africa, including a rapid reaction force. Third countries may be invited to take part in the EU mission, as is the case for all other missions.
The first discussions held at COPS allowed consensus to be reached on a number of points: - the mission that the EU could send to DRC should be a support mission for MONUC and not a substitute for it; it should have credible deterrent and prevention capability and remain on the ground for a given period. However, when it comes to the kind of military structure or the contribution by Member States and the nation that would possibly be leading the EU mission “everything is possible”, one diplomat said. The EU Military Committee has now to give its opinion on the various options proposed before COPS takes the dossier up again, in principle on 21 February. A political decision to trigger an additional EU operation in DRC could then be taken rapidly, at the end of the month of February and early March, as the electoral period in DRC may begin in April or May.
At the present time, MONUC has 18,600 civilian and military personnel in DRC.