Jung In Congo to Oversee EU Peacekeeping Mission
July 3, 2006
Defense Minister Jung stressed on Monday the strict neutrality of European troops in their mission to oversee Congo's elections.
"We will be a neutral party and will not take sides with anyone," Jung said following a meeting with Congo's Defense Minister, Adolphe Onusumba, in Kinshasa.
Congo could remain a dangerous area, Jung said, until final election results rolled in presumably at the end of August. However, he said he was certain EU peacekeeping troops would deter violence.
Jung said the around 2,000 European troops are obligated to remain neutral. Congo's opposition parties have feared that the European troops would aid the current president, Joseph Kabila, to remain in office.
German help after the elections
During his visit, Jung is scheduled to meet with representatives of the government and with the independent election commission's director, Muholongu Malumalu. Opposition leaders, he said, did not have time to meet.
Jung promised Onusumba additional help from Germany following the election, saying continued cooperation would likely center around training Congo's military troops. The goal, Jung said, is to help Congo be able to ensure stability and security alone in the future.
After years of civil war, Congo is currently building up a regular army of 120,000 soldiers.
Jung intends to stay in the region until Tuesday. He will be viewing the European troops' military bases in Kinshasa and neighboring Gabon's capital, Libreville.
German troops may guard polling stations
Germany currently has less than 100 peacekeepers in the region, but that figure will rise to 500 German troops and 280 support personnel by election day on July 30th when 25 million Congolese go to the polls to choose a new president and parliament.
Most of the German troops will be deployed in Gabon. Their primary purpose will be to fly into Congo and rescue United Nations election observers should violence break out during the polls. The DPA news agency, however, reported that sources in Kinshasa said German troops may guard election stations and transport polling ballots.
The German troops are part of a 2,000-strong European Union force with a four-month mandate that is supporting an existing 17,000-soldier UN peacekeeping force in the country and surrounding area.