The European Union's first support operation on the African continent: Darfur

Abstract

The Darfur Operation is much disputed, often times it is called unsuccessful. The operation started ten years ago, and in addition to other donors, the EU took an important role in the advocacy, not to mention the fact that it launched its own support operation. This was the second operation of the EU in Africa. It worked with less people than the Artemis Operation did, but it lasted for nearly three years. Although the operation had to face several challenges, it can be called effective from the perspective of the European Union and its member states. They could utilize the lessons learned from the mission related to further operations. However, several pieces of research have been made on the European Union’s activity in Darfur, but the participants of the mission did not share their experiences except for one or two conferences and articles. I (the author) served for six months in the operation in 2005. After coming home, I followed the events in the area. This research is based on my subjective experiences, other peacekeeper’s knowledge, archived and open sources.