BERLIN, May 17 (UPI) -- The German Cabinet Wednesday agreed to dispatch 780 Bundeswehr personnel with an EU mission to safeguard elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Some 500 soldiers and 280 logistics and medical experts will be sent to the African country which is holding its first democratic elections in more than four decades at the end of July.
German soldiers will be responsible for evacuating people in and around the capital Kinshasa, said Franz-Josef Jung, the country's defense minister. He added the mission would cost Germany some $72 million, nearly three times the amount first mentioned in March.
The United Nations, already on the ground with some 17,000 peacekeeping troops, requested additional support, as the situation may easily become unstable during and after the country's first free elections in 45 years. The DRC, Africa's third-largest country, is roughly the size of Western Europe.
According to the European Union, the mission will be spearheaded by Germany and France. Germany, as lead nation, will establish an operating center in Potsdam. The French will operate a command post in Kinshasa, capital of the DRC, according to the latest plans.
German opposition members harshly criticized the mission.
"This is one of the worst politically prepared missions which we have ever seen," Wolfgang Gerhardt, former head of the Free Democrats' parliamentary faction, Wednesday morning told public broadcaster ARD.
The German parliament has to sign off on the mission, a vote expected to be uncontroversial, observers say.
