Brussels, Belgium – Italy, which has offered to send the largest contingent, made a plea Wednesday for more European troops in an expanded U.N. peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon.
Premier Romano Prodi expressed frustration over the efforts to raise the force mandated by a U.N. resolution that ended 34 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah militants.
“It’s unthinkable that we would be there alone, and we have been working to strengthen the quantitative and international aspect of the mission in Lebanon,” Prodi told reporters at the Tuscan seaside resort of Castiglione della Pescaia, where he has been vacationing.
The U.N. cease-fire resolution authorized the expansion of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, from 2,000 to as many as 15,000 troops.
The peacekeepers are to help 15,000 Lebanese troops extend their authority into south Lebanon, which has been controlled by Hezbollah, as Israel withdraws its soldiers.
Italian diplomats also appealed for more troops at a meeting of European Union ambassadors at EU headquarters in Brussels, said Temu Tanner, ambassador of Finland, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency.
The EU ambassadors met ahead of a crucial meeting of the group’s foreign ministers Friday with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Brussels, when firm decisions on assembling the force could be taken.
Tanner said there were no breakthroughs Wednesday, and none were expected before Friday.
Pressure on the Europeans has grown because Israel has rejected offers of participation from Malaysia, Bangladesh and Indonesia – Muslim countries that do not recognize the Jewish state.
But most EU nations remain wary of making firm commitments until the mandate for the new force is clarified, fearing that their peacekeepers could be dragged into a conflict with the Hezbollah militants or with Israel if the current cease-fire collapses.
Besides Italy’s offer of up to 3,000 soldiers, other nations considering contributions include Spain, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Greece, and Belgium. Turkey, Morocco, Nepal, New Zealand and China also are considering participating in the U.N. mission.
“There is no time to sit on the fence. Europe must cough up with contingent contributions,” Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said in an interview with the Berlingske Tidene daily.
The Europeans, who have bitter memories of their troops being killed or humiliated while serving under weak U.N. mandates in Rwanda and the Balkans, agree that the new UNIFIL will not forcibly disarm the militia but will only oversee a political solution that would induce Hezbollah to turn in its weapons to the Lebanese army.
