Congo crisis highlights EU's lack of coherence

BRUSSELS - A short term military operation without a coherent EU approach combining security measures, humanitarian aid, policing and reforming efforts would not be able to address the Congo crisis in the long term, participants at a joint hearing in the European Parliament learned on Tuesday (4 November).

"If we take a dispassionate look at the situation in Eastern Congo these days, it is not difficult for us to realise that a consistent and coherent EU approach would provide a different panorama than the one we face today," Joao Gomes Cravinho, Portugal's secretary of state for foreign affairs and co-operation told MEPs.

During the Portuguese EU presidency in the second half of 2007, one of the priorities promoted by Lisbon was precisely the attempt to include security and humanitarian instruments "into a single consistent framework," Mr Cravinho explained.

The lack of coordination between humanitarian and security efforts in Africa was also highlighted by Klaus Rudischhauser fom the European Commission, who stressed that the US has just established a central command for Africa – AFRICOM – in Stuttgart, which gathers all military and civil efforts of the US under one umbrella, something the EU "obviously doesn't have."

The EU's contribution in training police forces and troops was highly appreciated by the permanent representative of the African Union to Brussels, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, however.

When asked by British conservative MEP Geoffrey van Orden if the African Union appreciated external military intervention or would rather deal with security issues on its own, Mr Annadif replied that one should separate "ambitions" from the "realities on the ground."

"Since it was launched in 2002, the African Union has had the ambition to take care of its own security. But the realities are not there yet, we still need the EU," the African envoy added.

Cease fire alows groups to deliver aid

Meanwhile, in Congo, two humanitarian aid groups - Oxfam and Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Tuesday that the cease-fire announced last week allowed them to resume their work in the province of North Kivu, along the border with Rwanda and Uganda.

Also on Tuesday, British foreign secretary David Miliband, just returning from a visit to the country, said access for aid workers and the distribution of aid are "urgent issues."

Congolese rebel forces of Tutsi ethnicity led by General Laurent Nkunda launched a new offensive in North Kivu last month against Rwandan Hutu rebels, displacing thousands of residents from villages and camps throughout the province. Nkunda declared a cease-fire last Wednesday.

The Congolese government has promised to stop the Hutu fighters - some of whom are accused of taking part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

The conflict has already seen reports of atrocious violence, including against children and women, with systematic rape and infanticide used as a weapon of terror against civilian communities.

UN officials said Monday the cease-fire was still holding and, while the situation remained tense, the provincial capital of Goma was busy again. The level of looting and violence was also much lower than a few days before, a UN official said, CNN reports.

Oxfam said it was currently delivering aid to about 85,000 people and staff were assessing how to scale up their efforts at camps around Goma.

Mr Miliband said Britain has not yet ruled out sending in troops to support the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, which currently numbers 17,000. A decision on that will come after the head of UN peacekeeping operations assesses the current mission and reports on it to the Security Council.

Lack of enthusiasm

Speaking before the European Parliament's security and defence committee on Monday, general David Leakey, director general of EU's military staff said the member states did not show "much enthusiasm" when asked to contribute with troops to a military action in Congo against the rebel militias - an idea championed by France and backed by Spain and Belgium.

The British general added there would also be logistical difficulties in deploying the troops, as they would have to go by sea - an operation which would cost time and money.

Yet the mere possibility that the EU might deploy troops in the region might have contributed to the ceasefire, argued the chairman of the European Parliament's security and defence subcommittee, German conservative MEP Karl von Wogau.

"I don't think it's just a coincidence that the ceasefire was possible the moment Mr Kouchner [the French foreign minister] talked about an EU military action," he had said on Monday.