In Congo, a cosmetic EU operation

Editorials & Commentary - International Herald Tribune: "In Congo, a cosmetic EU operation

Jean-Yves Haine and Bastian Giegerich International Herald Tribune

Published: June 12, 2006
LONDON The forthcoming European Union military mission to Congo demonstrates how far away the EU is from effectively fulfilling its international responsibilities.

With 2,000 soldiers, the coming operation is largely cosmetic. Like most cosmetic operations, it is more about European form than African substance, comforting rhetoric than relevant action.

The mission's rationale has more to do with French-German cohesion and with the EU's desire to bolster the credibility of the European Security and Defense Policy after the fiasco over the European constitutional treaty's rejection in referendums in France and the Netherlands. The actual reality on the ground in Congo is only a secondary factor."