Belgium said today it expected the European Union would agree to send a military force to Congo to assist UN peacekeepers, and Belgium itself could provide up to 500 troops.
"I think that at a certain point Europe will send a mission," Belgian foreign minister Karel de Gucht told a parliamentary committee, Belgian news agency Belga reported.
Belgium could provide 400-500 soldiers for such an EU force provided the necessary budget funds were released, defence minister Pieter De Crem told the same hearing.
Mr De Gucht has been trying to encourage the EU to respond to a United Nations call for an EU "bridging force" to reinforce the 17,000-strong UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a former Belgian colony.
EU ministers discussed the issue on Monday but were divided and took no decision. But they asked EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to prepare a response to the call from UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon.
Mr De Gucht said foreign ministers would discuss the issue again tomorrow night on the sidelines of an EU summit.
The UN force has been unable to contain a surge in fighting in eastern Congo between the forces of renegade General Laurent Nkunda and pro-government militias. An estimated 250,000 people have been displaced by the violence in recent weeks.
France yesterday ruled out sending combat troops to Congo because the conflict zone is too close to Rwanda, a country with which it has extremely tense relations because of mutual accusations about the 1994 Rwandan genocide.
But French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner said it would be a "moral abdication" for the EU not to respond and did not exclude non-combat participation in an EU force.
Reuters