German defence minister backs military mission in Darfur

March 1, 2007 (WIESBADEN) — Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung has advocated a military mission in the Sudanese crisis region of Darfur, the German news agency DDP reported today.

“There, human rights are trampled and I think only military deployment can provide for peaceful developments,” Jung said on Thursday 1 March on Hessische Rundfunk radio before the beginning of the EU defence ministers’ conference in Wiesbaden.

Jung cited the Balkans as an example of the effectiveness of such missions. Only when NATO intervened, did it come “to a peaceful and stable development”. The minister also called the Congo deployment a successful military operation for creating peace.

He sharply rejected the concept of a “conference of war preparation” for the defence ministers’ meeting.

On Thursday, EU operations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan will be the focus of the two-day informal meeting. Among other subjects will be planning for a partial withdrawal from Bosnia, as well as negotiations about the future status of the Serbian province of Kosovo, being administered by the UN. In addition, the ministers will discuss the further development of the current UN mission in Darfur.

(ST)