EU to Send Troops to the Congo?

A few weeks ago we wrote about the possibility of Obama sending American troops to the Congo. Now this. --Belgium said on Wednesday it expected the European Union would agree to send a military force to Congo to assist U.N. peacekeepers, and Belgium itself could provide up to 500 troops. "I think that at a certain point Europe will send a mission," Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht told a parliamentary committee, Belgian news agency Belga reported. Belgium could provide 400-500 soldiers for such an EU force provided the necessary budget funds were released, Defense Minister Pieter De Crem told the same hearing. De Gucht has been trying to encourage the EU to respond to a United Nations call for an EU "bridging force" to reinforce the 17,000-strong U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a former Belgian colony.