Brussels, 13/11/2006 (Agence Europe) - As foreseen, EU Defence Ministers have decided to withdraw the European troops deployed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as of end November.
German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said there was no reason to prolong the mission. The mandate for the mission comes to an end on 30 November but redeployment of European troops will not be complete until around end December. “The mission was successful. Our mission was to ensure democratic elections and this process is finished”, he went on to say. Germany commands this 1,400-strong European force in Kinshasa, backed by a standby force stationed in Gabon. French Defence Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie explained that the Union was aiming to end the mission by the end of the year. Shortly before the ministerial meeting, the EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, had said he was in favour of withdrawing European troops from the country. “I feel that the situation is going in the right direction. The proclamation of results will be on Tuesday and I think we will be able to announce the withdrawal of troops according to schedule”, Solana said.
Ministers also discussed the best way to put an end to the operation. They mainly looked at the approach that could be adopted by the troops if the situation on the ground were to worsen after 30 November. A number of technical and legal issues have still to be examined but the idea of maintaining intervention capability during the redeployment period, that is until end December, now seems to have been adopted. In parallel, the EU is expected to renew and, with the endorsement of the new Congolese authorities, strengthen its commitment in favour of army and police reform, in the context of the evolving EUSEC and EUPOL missions. (bc)