Envoys convened for crisis exercise

Date: 07/04/05

The European Union will mount a two-day crisis management exercise next week aimed at improving EU-UN co-operation in conflict management.

EU ambassadors and foreign policy chief Javier Solana will gather in Brussels in 14-15 April for the simulation, code-named 'EST05'.

In the exercise, virtual EU troops will be asked to deploy rapidly to a troubled region, to prepare the way for a larger UN force.

The exercise is seen as a way of testing the EU's battle groups - a team of specialised soldiers from a handful of member states.

The scenario is similar to the EU's 2003 ARTEMIS mission to the Congo, when the EU deployed 1,850, chiefly French troops, to the Congolese town of Bunia to allow UN forces to reorganise in the face of mounting tensions between rebel and government forces. A more robust UN force was deployed after three months. Hundreds of officials will also take part in the operation.

The ambassadors, Solana, and staff from the Commission and Council of Ministers' secretariat will work through a civilian crisis management scenario similar to an EU police mission in the Congolese capital Kinshasa.

The EU is currently involved in training and providing the nascent integrated police force with basic equipment.

According to Thierry Tardy of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, the EU will hope to take a number of lessons from the simulation.

The simulation could work through some of the problems of operating joint patrols with EU and UN forces holding different mandates and rules of engagement, he said.

Communications between the two institutions are likely to be a key feature.

"One of the lessons learned from Bunia is that prior to deployment there was a lack of communication on where, when and what kind of forces the EU would deploy," he said.

"The objective is to draw some lessons from Artemis, to improve relations between the two institutions."

Tardy says that the nature of this exercise shows how EU-UN co-operation is likely to evolve with the UN being invited to participate, but falling short of a joint operation.

"Clearly the EU is in the lead," he said. The UN will be represented by its department of peacekeeping operations and NATO will have observer status.

Another exercise that will involve an EU mission that uses NATO military assets is foreseen for next year.

Preview of a two-day crisis management exercise by the European Union, Brussels, 14-15 April 2005. The exercise was to bring together EU ambassadors and the High Representative for the EU's Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, and was code-named 'EST05'. In the exercise, virtual EU troops were be asked to deploy rapidly to a troubled region, to prepare the way for a larger UN force.