Guardian Unlimited: EU to commit biggest force in its history to keep the peace

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EU to commit biggest force in its history to keep the peace-by Ewen MacAskill and David Gow

The European Union is to mount the biggest military operation in its history after agreeing yesterday to commit more than 7,000 ground troops for a United Nations mission policing the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire. The EU, at a meeting of its foreign ministers in Brussels, also agreed to send a further 2,000 specialist forces, mainly providing naval and air support. Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, in Brussels to cajole hesitant countries, expressed his delight and said that more than half of the proposed 15,000-strong peacekeeping force was now in place.

Its willingness to commit troops demonstrates that the EU is capable of military deployments independent of the US. It also answers criticism from Washington that Europe is happy to engage in diplomacy but unwilling to put boots on the ground. As well as the 2,000 troops promised by the French president, Jacques Chirac, on Thursday, Italy committed 3,000, Spain up to 1,200, including a mechanised battalion, Belgium 400, Poland 500 and Finland 250. Germany, Greece and Denmark also offered to contribute to the 2,000 specialist forces.The Spanish government said on Friday that it would send 800-1,000 soldiers to join the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. Spanish Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told reporters that plans about sending troops to the enlarged UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were agreed upon at meetings between Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and his European counterparts in Brussels earlier in the day.

The UN secretary-general joined forces with Javier Solana, the EU's head of foreign and security policy, in demanding that Israel lift its blockade of Lebanese ports and Beirut airport at once to enable the peacekeeping forces to fulfill their mission and to allow the reconstruction of the country to begin and humanitarian aid to flow.France and Italy, the two biggest troop contributors, have resolved who will command the force. The UN troops on the ground will continue to be led by a French commander until the end of February when an Italian will take over.