EU forces in DRC 'will be fair'
2006-07-03 23:37
Kinshasa - European forces deployed to oversee July's elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo will be impartial, German defence minister Franz Josef Jung said on Monday.
"We behave in a neutral manner. We do not take anyone's side," he said following talks with government representatives in Kinshasa.
Jung met the DRC foreign minister Raymong Ramazani Baya and defence minister Adolphe Onusumba.
He was due to meet President Joseph Kabila on Monday evening after a visit to a military airfield in the centre of the capital where the European force, known as Eufor, will be based.
The DRC opposition has expressed concern about the objectivity of the European forces who, they say, could strengthen the president's side.
Jung denied such claims after meeting the president of the independent electoral commission, Apollinaire Malu Malu. "Obviously, the Eufor soldiers will display neutrality," he said.
Risks
The German minister acknowledged there were risks involved in the mission, which has been strongly criticised in Germany, and admitted his soldiers could become involved in fighting.
Jung said the critical point would be after the elections, when the losing side could cause trouble. In that case, he said, soldiers would intervene "without a shadow of a doubt".
"I hope it will not come to that but if it did we would have to act," he said, adding that his initial talks in Kinshasa suggested that stability was achievable, and that Eufor's presence would act as a deterrent.
Eufor will have a UN mandate and will intervene if the electoral process is seriously compromised. It will be supported by the UN's 17 600-strong mission in DRC.
As well as about 1 200 men deployed in Kinshasa on the eve of the elections on July 30, 1 200 European soldiers will be on standby in Gabon.
Germany will command the operation from Potsdam.
- SAPA