WRITTEN QUESTION E-0449/03 by José Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra (PPE-DE) to the Council. Withdrawal of foreign forces from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Date: 2003-02-19
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Congo, common foreign and security policy, multinational force, political situation, settlement of disputes, the EU's international role

C 222 E/206

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

18.9.2003

(2003/C 222 E/234)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0449/03

by José Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra (PPE-DE) to the Council

(19 February 2003)

Subject: Withdrawal of foreign forces from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

Certain reports and witness accounts from NGOs working in the country indicate that the situation in the
Democratic republic of the Congo (DRC) is worrying. There are signs that the foreign troops which have
been operating in the DRC recently have not completed their withdrawal, and that some of them are still
there. If this is true, it would mean a worsening of the already delicate security situation in the country, as
well as posing obstacles to or even preventing the normalisation of the political situation in the DRC by
means of a global political agreement. Furthermore, accusations have been made that the mandate of the
United Nations mission in the DRC (UNMC) is inadequate, if it is to play an effective role in restoring
normality, stability and security. All this would make the disastrous humanitarian situation apparently
reigning in the country even more complicated.

Does the Council have any evidence that foreign troops have not carried out a total, definitive withdrawal
from the DRC?

Does the Council believe that a global, definitive political agreement can be achieved in the DRC? What
should be the content of such an agreement?

Does the Council believe that the mandate of the UN mission in the DRC should be strengthened, and its
staff increased so as to allow it to play an effective role in restoring normality in the DRC?

What is the involvement of the Member States in the UN mission, and how does the Council assess this
participation?

Reply

(13 May 2003)

The Council does not dispose of any evidence to substantiate or invalidate claims about total and definitive
withdrawal of foreign troops from the DRC.

On 27 January, the Council concluded that there is no alternative to the global and inclusive Agreement
on transition in the DRC, signed in Pretoria on 17 December 2002, if peace and stability are to be re-
established in the Congo. It strongly urged all parties to complete in good faith the negotiations on the
points still outstanding and to set up with all speed the institutions required for transition.

The Council’s Common Position, of 11 March 2002, provides for EU support for action taken by the UN
and the OAU (now AU) in respect of the implementation of the Lusaka cease-fire agreement and the
relevant Security Council resolutions. The Common Position also provides for EU cooperation with the UN
and the OAU and for EU continued support to the MONUC and the Joint Military Committee (JMC). The
Council has not discussed the specific question of a strengthening of the mandate of the UN mission in the
DRC. The Council
in March 2002 welcomed the proposal by the UNSG to increase the staff of the
MONUC.

Information concerning the involvement of Member States in the UN mission is available on the UNSC
homepage, most recently in the thirteenth report of
the Secretary General on the United Nations
Organisation Mission in the DRC (S/2003/211). The Council has not assessed this participation.