POTSDAM, Germany, June 7 (UPI) -- The European Union foreign policy chief Wednesday defended the EU's mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo against harsh criticism from German lawmakers.
Asked what he thought about criticism from German political circles who had said the mission was poorly planned, Javier Solana shot back that "the planning has been done splendidly... This will be an example for future operations."
Solana spoke after he toured the EU's brand-new mission operational headquarters at a German military site in Potsdam, near Berlin.
He added the risks could be well calculated and that European soldiers were not in excessive danger.
"This is not the first time (we'll) go to this country," he said. "The EU will continue to help the Congo" in its quest for political stability, he added.
The United Nations, already on the ground with some 17,000 peacekeeping troops, requested the additional EU mission, compiled from 19 EU members and Turkey, to safeguard the country's first democratic elections in more than four decades.
Observers fear the situation may easily become unstable during and after the elections, which are scheduled for the end of June.
The DRC, Africa's third-largest country, is roughly the size of Western Europe and continues to suffer from the after-effects of a bloody 1998-2003 civil war that claimed the lives of some 4 million people.
The Potsdam-based mission headquarters are staffed with mostly German personnel, while France will lead a command center on the ground.
