The EU appears to be taking Peacekeeping in the Congo very seriously, if the commanders for the EUFOR RD Congo are an indication.
Both senior commanders, Maj-Gen Karlheinz Viereck of Germany and Maj-Gen Christian Damay of France have impressive CVs. Viereck was commander of the German 4th Airborne Division, was Deputy Chief of Staff at Joint NATO Headquarters, in Stavanger (where he learned Norwegian) and was most recently Deputy Commander at Bundeswehr Operations Command. In 2005, he presented a paper titled ‘Securing Human Rights: Criteria and Limits of Military Inteventions’ at a conference on Global Governance. Damay also has airborne experience, with the 1st Airborne Infantry Regiment and the 11th Airborne Division, and a spell with KFOR where he served as Comander of Multi-National Brigade (MNB) North from 2002.
Considering that the EUFOR RD Congo is quite a small mission, with 400-450 troops deployed to support MONUC and another infantry battalion available if needed, one might expect a couple of Colonels or maybe one general officer – the choice of two very impressive general officers for EUFOR RD Congo does look like a signal that the EU is quite serious about the operation.
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