EU: European defence ministers will today discuss the composition of an EU peacekeeping mission to safeguard upcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The talks in Innsbruck, Austria, will centre on attempts to persuade EU states, including Ireland, to commit troops for the potentially risky mission in June. They will also try to find an EU state willing to lead the military mission, after both Britain and France declined.
Germany, the only other EU state with the military planning capacity to take a lead role, now looks the most likely to run the mission to protect Congo's first democratic elections since it gained independence from Belgium in 1961.
Despite being initially reticent, German defence minister Franz Josef Jung yesterday did not rule out the prospect of Germany leading the mission. "We have always said we will not sidestep a responsibility, but there is an overall responsibility for Europe here."
Germany, France, Belgium and Sweden have all said they will supply troops to the Congo but many states are reluctant because of the risks involved. Some states such as Britain are already overstretched due to troop commitments in Iraq.
The 17,000-strong UN force in Congo is regularly involved in clashes with rebels. Yesterday the UN reported it had killed several militia fighters on Sunday.
A spokeswoman for Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea said yesterday that in principle Ireland was in favour of supporting the Congo mission. But she said the Defence Forces were currently assessing if the mission suited its available troops.
The UN initially made a request to the EU in December for a force of about 800 men to protect the elections. Congo is recovering from the 1998-2002 war that cost four million lives and left much of the country lawless. Sporadic fighting continues, despite the presence of 17,000 UN peacekeepers.
Meanwhile, speaking ahead of a 10-day visit to Congo yesterday, UN high commissioner for refugees Antonio Guterres called on the international community to provide more financial help to bolster reform in the African state.
He said he sensed a growing feeling of hope among ordinary people that the country, at war for much of the past decade, was on the path to a democratic and peaceful future.