The situation in Sudan, military cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations as well as the development of military capabilities of the European Union were the topics discussed by the EU Defence Ministers on March 2nd, the second day of their informal meeting in Wiesbaden.
The working sessions, chaired by Defence Minister Dr. Franz Josef Jung, were attended by the Defence Ministers of the 27 EU Member States, the Secretary General and High Representative Dr. Javier Solana and further representatives of the European Union.
The first item on the agenda was the current situation in Sudan. Defence Minister Jung noted that no satisfactory results have yet been achieved regarding the suggested three-phase-model for a transistion of the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) into a UN led mission. A “hybrid” mission involving the UN, the African Union and Sudan would be conceivable.
The mandate for the African Union Mission has been extended until June 30th 2007. The Supporting Action for AMIS has to be continued accordingly. The transition into a “hybrid” mission should however be firmly supported and pursued further, the Minister said.
The second topic was military cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations. Under the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) the European Union has set iself the goal to preserve peace and security and to support, among others, UN efforts. This cooperation has already proved worthwhile several times, in military crisis management most recently in securing the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Dr. Jung emphasised that EUFOR RD Congo has been a very successful mission based on a graduated, temporary and credible presence of limited military assets and a broad multinational participation.
In principle, the autonomy to take decisions should continue to lie with the European Union. There will not be an automatism in the provision of forces for the United Nations, the German Defence Minister said. The experience gained up to now should be used in order to further optimize future cooperation. A “lessons learned” process has already started, he claimed, aiming at combining the experience of all military and civilian players involved in an operation. In this context the Minister stressed that every operation posed a new challenge and that lessons learned would have to be applied on a case-by-case basis.
Between March 19th and 21st, a seminar on “Military Aspects of Cooperation between the European Union and the United Nations” will take place in Berlin with a special focus on lessons learned during EUFOR RD Congo.
