BRUSSELS, June 12 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) on Monday gave green light to its authorized military mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to help monitor the country's elections in late July.

    At the start of a two-day meeting in Luxembourg, EU foreign ministers gave authorization to the mission's operation commander to begin troops deployment, the Council of the EU said in a statement on its website.

    The EU mission was requested by the United Nations, which has some 17,000 peacekeepers in the DRC to assist the world body in safeguarding the African country's first democratic elections in more than 40 years.

    The EU mission, code-named Operation EUFOR DR Congo, is to begin on the date of the first round of the presidential and parliamentary elections, scheduled for July 30. It is to last for four months.

    An "advance element" of several hundred EU troops will be deployed in the DRC capital Kinshasa. The remainder will be on standby in nearby countries where they can be rapidly deployed if necessary, the EU council said.

    Germany will send 780 soldiers and medical experts to the DRC as part of the estimated 1,700-strong EU mission. France and 16 other nations will also contribute troops to the mission, which will be under the command of a German general.

    The EU operational headquarters will be located in Potsdam, Germany. Advance units of the European force have arrived in DRC, the statement said.

    Reaffirming its longstanding engagement in DRC, the EU council said the EU's police mission in Kinshasa will be reinforced and the 25-nation bloc will continue to support the country's ongoing security sector reform through its mission in DRC.

    The EU also pledged assistance in immediate reconstruction and rehabilitation projects in DRC after the elections.

    The EU has provided 149 million euros (about 190 million U.S. dollars) for DRC's election preparations and is sending 250 electoral observers to the country. Enditem