EU gives $424 million for Africa peace operations

The European Union has set aside 350 million euros ($424 million) for continued support of African-led peacekeeping operations in Africa, including Darfur, EU officials said April 11, 2006 - Reuters:

The new funds for the EU's African Peace Facility, created three years ago with a 250 million euro budget, are intended to cover the 2006-10 period.

"There is no development without stability, and no development without security," EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel told a news conference after a ministerial meeting of the 25-nation bloc.

The African Peace Facility has been mostly used to support African Union efforts to halt violence in Darfur, Michel said.

He confirmed the EU was preparing to give 50 million euros to help the AU finance a six-month extension of its mission, adding to 162 million already given by the bloc for that operation.

The AU says it costs around $24 million a month to run its [Darfur] mission, for which it relies on donor nations.