In a major policy shift, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has revealed plans to deploy EU military forces in Africa.

The area in question is the Vakaga prefecture in Chad and the Haute-Kotto prefecture in the Central African Republic, both of which have been overwhelmed with refugees from Darfur. The United Nations will train police to help protect human rights and establish the rule of law, but the European Union will supply military force. The president of Chad, Idriss Deby, has already agreed to the idea of an EU presence in his country.

The plan states that EU forces will be deployed for 12 months, with the follow-up still to be determined. In other words, the EU will not necessarily leave at the end of 12 months.

This is another instance of the EU entering a region under the banner of its allies, just as it did in the strategically valuable Balkan Peninsula and as it is currently doing in the oil-rich region of Sudan. This time, however, the EU is using its own military forces to carry out the action.

The EU is drawing support from the United Nations, and even African leaders themselves. Continue to watch the European Union as it establishes a presence in this resource-rich but underdeveloped area of the world. For more information on Europe’s incursions into Africa and the strategy at play, read “EU Heading South.”