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Is the EU Chad Mission a Camouflage for French Interests?

EU foreign ministers have finally agreed to help victims of the violence in Darfur by sending a peacekeeping force to states neighboring the troubled region. German commentator are skeptical of the true purpose of the mission, pointing to French interests in the country.

After months of delay, the European Union finally agreed Monday to deploy a 3,700-strong peacekeeping force to Chad and the Central Africa Republic to help humanitarian aid workers and refugees seeking to escape the chaos in the neighboring Darfur region of Sudan.

The mission was originally meant to deploy in October but faced delays attributed to shortfalls in crucial equipment, especially helicopters. Some governments have blamed the shortage on military commitments elsewhere, especially Afghanistan and Kosovo.

The force, which has a 12-month mandate, is scheduled to begin deploying in the coming weeks. Timing is of the essence now, but EU foreign policy chief Javiar Solana has said that the troops will "be on the ground before the rainy season."

French soldiers will make up more than half of the force. Thirteen other countries -- though not Germany -- have also pledged to contribute troops.

The rebellion raging in Darfur since 2003 has led to an estimated 200,000 deaths and 2.5 million refugees, many of whom have fled into neighboring countries in the hope of finding safety. But Chad itself is currently facing its own turmoil in the form of rebel activities aimed at dislodging President Idriss Deby.

In a joint statement, the EU foreign ministers stated that the mission would be conducted in a "neutral, impartial and independent manner."

German commentators seem skeptical of the ministers' claim, believing that France's historical ties to its former colony and its interests in the region make its intentions more than just humanitarian.

The center-left Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

"The European Union has needed three more months than promised to get soldiers on the march in order to help the refugees from Darfur and Chad. The Europeans have had to listen to a lot of criticism on account of this delay. Some have complained that it is scandalous that the EU is incapable of quickly mustering a few thousand men and a handful of helicopters. Others accuse it of really lacking the political will to provide assistance in a lost corner of Africa."

"This criticism is vehement because of the good intentions behind it. But these good intentions also make people blind to the real essence of the problem. Many countries, among them Germany, have held back -- but not out of callousness. They do not see the deployment as being useful toward solving the Darfur crisis. In addition, there is a large risk that the European troops will get caught up in the violent conflict between Chad's ruler and a rebel movement, against which President Idriss Deby has held his ground with the help of French soldiers. It is no coincidence that Paris openingly pushed for the deployment of European troops without coming to an agreement with its partners first."

"It's not difficult to see why a number of governments in the EU are skeptical about an EU mission under these circumstances and would prefer to keep their soldiers at home. But, at the end day, they did agree to the mission. In the end, not allowing France's President Nicolas Sarkozy fail is insufficient reason for the deployment. Now everyone just hopes that the mission goes off without a hitch."

The left-leaning Berliner Zeitung also expressed skepticism about the stated aims of the mission:

"The Chad mission is not what it seems. What, then, is it? France, the former colonial power in Chad, is contributing the largest contingent. France protects the rebel, dictator and Gadhafi-sidekick Idriss Deby, both of whom launched a coordinated invasion of Darfur at the end of the '80s. France keeps its military staging point for Africa in Chad along with the continent's longest airstrip. Now President Sarkozy has used massive pressure to 'Europeanize' the deployment to Chad, though the more precise word is 'camouflage.' So, why the big charade? Strategically speaking, Chad is one of the three most important countries in Africa, next to Djibouti and Eritrea, both of which are near the sea passage to the Gulf. Chad's neighbor Niger has vast amounts of uranium, and there are vast amounts of oil in three other neighbors -- Nigeria, Libya and Sudan. So, we have to go there! Good thing Germany refused to send soldiers."

-- Josh Ward, 12:30 p.m. CET