EU vows tough force for DRC elections

BRUSSELS – European Union troops being sent to help safeguard July 30 elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo will deal robustly with any violence and use deadly force if necessary, their commander vowed on Tuesday.

German Lieutenant General Karlheinz Viereck said he was confident the 2 000-strong force could help thwart potential troublemakers despite limits on its mandate and the length of its stay, set at a maximum of four months. “If we send 2 000 troops into the arena, that doesn’t mean we are just there for deterrence …It will mean fighting some spoilers,” Viereck told a news briefing.”Yes, we can use force.If it is necessary, even deadly force,” he said when asked how far the EU troops would go in protecting themselves and others from violence.The vote will be the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first democratic elections in over 40 years, meant to draw a line under the vast central African country’s last, five-year war.But preparations are being overshadowed by an opposition boycott and continued fighting in the east of the country.EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to deploy troops for four months until end-November in support of a 17 000-strong UN peacekeeping mission.The EU mandate runs out at around the time that a presidential winner is due to be declared.In a commentary published in the International Herald Tribune newspaper on Tuesday, defence analysts Jean-Yves Haine and Bastian Giegerich doubted whether the 18-nation EU force would have a significant impact on security in Congo.They said it would not be in unruly eastern Congo, where militia groups roam, and be hamstrung by national restrictions imposed by member states on what their troops could do.Viereck said the United Nations had not asked for assistance to its peacekeepers in the east, and argued that he could work with the restrictions, or “caveats” imposed on his troops.”Each country is sovereign in deploying forces the way it sees fit to deploy them,” he said.A UN resolution passed in April calls on the EU to support UN peacekeepers as needed, protect civilians threatened with violence, help protect Kinshasa airport and in certain circumstances extract individuals in danger.Viereck said 800 soldiers would be deployed in Kinshasa, 1 200 on stand-by in the Gabonese capital of Libreville and a further unspecified force on reserve in Europe.Diplomats previously estimated the Kinshasa component would number 450.The mission is the first time Germany has taken a leadership role of an EU military operation and Berlin has sought to allay domestic public concern by stressing that the operation is temporary, and will not lead to any longer EU presence.Aldo Ajello, the EU’s special representative to the region, said there were no plans to alter that but added: “If there is any major problem, we are prepared to reanalyse everything.”- Nampa-Reuters”If we send 2 000 troops into the arena, that doesn’t mean we are just there for deterrence …It will mean fighting some spoilers,” Viereck told a news briefing.”Yes, we can use force.If it is necessary, even deadly force,” he said when asked how far the EU troops would go in protecting themselves and others from violence.The vote will be the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first democratic elections in over 40 years, meant to draw a line under the vast central African country’s last, five-year war.But preparations are being overshadowed by an opposition boycott and continued fighting in the east of the country.EU foreign ministers agreed on Monday to deploy troops for four months until end-November in support of a 17 000-strong UN peacekeeping mission.The EU mandate runs out at around the time that a presidential winner is due to be declared.In a commentary published in the International Herald Tribune newspaper on Tuesday, defence analysts Jean-Yves Haine and Bastian Giegerich doubted whether the 18-nation EU force would have a significant impact on security in Congo.They said it would not be in unruly eastern Congo, where militia groups roam, and be hamstrung by national restrictions imposed by member states on what their troops could do.Viereck said the United Nations had not asked for assistance to its peacekeepers in the east, and argued that he could work with the restrictions, or “caveats” imposed on his troops.”Each country is sovereign in deploying forces the way it sees fit to deploy them,” he said.A UN resolution passed in April calls on the EU to support UN peacekeepers as needed, protect civilians threatened with violence, help protect Kinshasa airport and in certain circumstances extract individuals in danger.Viereck said 800 soldiers would be deployed in Kinshasa, 1 200 on stand-by in the Gabonese capital of Libreville and a further unspecified force on reserve in Europe.Diplomats previously estimated the Kinshasa component would number 450.The mission is the first time Germany has taken a leadership role of an EU military operation and Berlin has sought to allay domestic public concern by stressing that the operation is temporary, and will not lead to any longer EU presence.Aldo Ajello, the EU’s special representative to the region, said there were no plans to alter that but added: “If there is any major problem, we are prepared to reanalyse everything.”- Nampa-Reuters