Gesteggel over leiderschap militaire EU-missie in Congo (en)

Belgium, Sweden, Spain and Portugal have indicated they are willing to participate in an EU military force aimed at securing elections in Congo - but member states are reluctant to assume leadership over the operation.

Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday (27 February) discussed the upcoming EU operation, which is a response to a request made by the UN to beef up its security presence during elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo in Summer.

The UN in a January letter asked the Europeans to "make available a deterrent force during the electoral process."

Although ministers on Monday did not formally give the green light to the mission, several member states indicated a willingness to contribute to the force, according to press reports.

Belgium and Sweden have promised troops, while Spain and Portugal are also expected to contribute, next to France and Germany which earlier demonstrated keenness to show Franco-German unity over the issue.

The poll is now most likely to take place in June, as opposed to an earlier April date, which leaves the EU more time to design the framework of the operation.

But details like the size, exact tasks, and the geographical scope of the mission are proving contentious, press reports indicate.

Ministers agreed the EU contingent should be as multinational as possible, as opposed to an earlier military operation by the union in the Congolese region of Bunia in 2003, which was led by France.

EU states this time want to see a multinational headquarters, with Reuters reporting France itself is also reluctant to assume a leading role again.

The agency notes that French troops were accused of being complicit in the 1994 genocide in neighbouring Rwanda in 1994.

The German chancellor Angela Merkel backs German engagement in the mission in a bid to show solidarity with France, but Berlin faces a public opinion which is wary of troop deployment in Africa.

Berlin is said to be under pressure to host the multinational headquarters of the EU mission at Potsdam, but the German government is reluctant to publicly play a leading role.

Belgian news agency Belga reports that Germany also seeks a limited mandate for the EU troops, the deployment of which should be confined to the region around the capital Kinshasa.

Belgian foreign minister Karel de Gucht said according to Belga that "such a limited task description is not of a nature to make deterrence credible."

Belgium itself, however, can only play a restricted role in the mission according to rules by the Belgian senate, which forbid active deployment of troops in former colonies.

This means the Belgian role is set to be purely logistical.