Brussels, 12/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - EU foreign ministers devoted most of the discussion over lunch on Thursday 11 December to the situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the call from the UN Secretary General for European troops to be sent to assist the MONUC force, while it awaits the additional 3,000 soldiers authorised, thus taking its numbers to 20,000. No definite response came from the discussion which considered a paper offering the following options: - increasing humanitarian aid; - support for the political process and for mediation by President Obasanjo; - an interim European force to support the MONUC, in the form of an ESDP operation. EU High Representative for the CFSP Javier Solana, who will be in New York on Monday for a Middle East Quartet meeting, will discuss the situation in the DRC with Ban Ki-moon.
Belgium, which has offered 400-500 troops for a European force, has called for a commitment from the EU under the ESDP, either by sending a tactical group or through an interim operation involving 2,500-3,000 troops. Each of these options will require funding and will have to be decided unanimously. With several countries, including the United Kingdom and Germany expressing reservations, such an option remains unlikely. Another possibility would be for Europe to coordinate the voluntary sending of equipment or troops to support the MONUC, but even this option remains dependent on forthcoming diplomatic talks and how the situation on the ground develops.
When asked by press after the European Council, Nicolas Sarkozy said that “Europe is ready to play its part”. However, he added a littler later: “We can't do everything”. He noted that the MONUC already had 17,000 troops and wondered how useful 3,000 additional soldiers would be. Referring to a conversation he had had with the Angolan president, he said Angola was ready to become involved to bring about peace in the DRC if it had a mandate from the UN. Sarkozy wondered if it would not be better to consider first a regional force.
“We need a political solution,” German Foreign Minister Walter Steinmeier told press. “According to what we heard yesterday (Thursday), there has been some slight stabilisation of the security situation,” he went on, stating that “several delegations have doubts as to whether a few hundred European troops could alter the situation compared with 17,000 UN soldiers”. “In the coming weeks we will increase our humanitarian efforts,” he said. (A.By./O.J./transl.rt)