A confrontation of German soldiers with child soldiers is not to be expected.

The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) called on Friday for the debate on a possible Kongo operation for the German army to be conducted in a more objective manner. "Politicians and representatives of the army unit are stirring up unnecessary fears by warning of a possible confrontation of German soldiers with child soldiers in the Congo”, said the GfbV expert, Ulrich Delius. People who use this argument obviously have no idea of the geography and the military situation in the Congo.

"Child soldiers are fighting in the east of the Congo, yet the discussions are concerned solely with the possibility of the German army operation in the capital of Kinshasa. This is like talking about the North Pole in order to prevent an operation in Sicily. If there is so much fear of a confrontation of the German army with child soldiers then it is all the more surprising that there has never been any mention of child soldiers fighting in Afghanistan in the discussions on the Afghanistan operation.” Delius drew attention to the fact that nowhere in the world since the Second World War have more people died a violent death than in the Congo. 4.5 million people have died as result of war, hunger and deportation in recent years. The only way to stop this dying is by stabilising the Congo. The elections are an important step to achieving peace and human rights in the Congo. And it is the safeguarding of these elections by EU troops which is now the subject of argument.