EU Bridging Operation in Support of AU and UN Missions in the Central African Republic

Abstract

In the practice of EU-UN collaboration in international crisis management, examples of European Union (EU) military operations have emerged when contingents of troops are dispatched to African conflict zones for limited period and purpose as temporary support for pending United Nations (UN) or already operating African Union (AU) missions. These EU deployments are intended to ‘bridge’ the gap in international capabilities until a more comprehensive and sustained ‘multidimensional presence’ under UN direction is not prepared to take over full responsibility for the security and protection of civilians and humanitarian assistance. Bridging operations can be conducted as temporary EU military crisis management undertakings in support of other multinational missions. The current deployment of an EU-led military contingent in the Central African Republic (CAR) began originally to help the AU intervention force, then it continued its operation to complement the subsequent UN mission on the way to its full operational capability. EU bridging operations are closely coordinated with the UN, implemented under explicit Security Council authorizations and concluded with the transfer of tasks and responsibility to a succeeding UN mission.

European Union military operations and global security: ambitions and reality

“…While there were 736 hostages and 32 ships held by pirates in 2011, no hostages or commandeered ships were recorded in October 2016, with 100% of WFP and Amison shipments successfully protected (EEAS 2019b). Eufor RCA had a robust mandate, however, it was limited to two districts as well as the airport of Bangui, and the mission's strength was modest (Törö 2015). According to Tardy (2015, 2), "it has contributed to the stabilisation of the situation in its area of deployment", and troops were "able to respond in line with its robust mandate" when tested.…”

“…However, the EU force generation process failed to gather a sufficient number of troops and the necessary logistic support quickly enough, despite the efforts of the EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton towards European governments (Nimark 2014). On the 1 April 2014, Eufor RCA was officially set in motion and only reached its full operational capacity on 15 June (Törö 2015). The rapid deployment of troops to Artemis was only possible because of the French government's commitment to leading the operation and providing the bulk of its personnel.…”