Head of UN mission to Congo demands more engagement from Germany

Source: dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Kinshasa, 22 February 2015 - The head of the United Nations Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Martin Kobler, has called on Germany to become more deeply involved in the world's largest peace mission.

Kobler said in an interview with dpa released in German on Sunday that Berlin should send troops and more civilian aid workers and "show its commitment to Congo."

With some 20,000 soldiers, the UN's mission to the east of Congo, known as MONUSCO, is the organization's largest worldwide. Having started in 1999, its aim is to end the civil war in the commodity-rich region.

It is only since the foundation of a special intervention brigade two years ago that the UN forces have seen any success against the local militias.

There have been several million deaths in the conflict so far.

"We have until now not had any Germany military involvement in the largest peace mission," Kobler, who in 2013 became the first German to lead the mission, told dpa.

"I would hope that more Germans would be represented here, as military observers among the forces, in communications or in logistics," he said. Unfortunately, there was "no consensus" among German politicians for such a move, he added.

Among the 1,500 civilian aid workers in Congo, only four are from Germany.

The 61-year-old's term of office runs out in the summer and it has not yet been decided if he will stay on in his role.

Germany supports the UN mission financially with 100 million euros (114 million dollars) a year. The mission costs 1.3 billion dollars a year to fund.