Ireland: The decision of the European Union to allocate €250 million for an African peacekeeping force has been strongly defended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen.
"I don't accept for a moment that this is not an excellent development," he told reporters after an EU-African Union "troika" meeting in Dublin.
Welcoming the African Peace Facility, the Minister said it would be "dealt with by Africans for Africans, to deal with the African problems, and supported by the EU financially and in every other way in which they feel we can assist".
Mr Cowen added: "We cannot impose solutions on the continent of Africa". The people who lived there knew the situation best and they could best seek to solve the problem, he said.
The move had been sharply criticised by Mr John O'Shea of the development aid agency, GOAL, who said earlier that it was "a highly irresponsible act of the EU to pay for the establishment of what in effect would be an African army".
"How can you trust an African army when the African governments are steeped in corruption and self-interest?" Mr O'Shea added: "This is a cop-out on the part of the EU and it shouldn't be supported by Brian Cowen."
But speaking on behalf of the African Union, Mozambique's Foreign Minister, Mr Leonard Simao, told reporters: "We are conscious that the ultimate responsibility to keep peace and security belongs to the United Nations Security Council."
The African peace facility would complement the UN's responsibility. "Experience has shown that our role can make a difference," Mr Simao said.
The European Commissioner for Development, Mr Poul Nielsen, told reporters that Europe was lagging behind Africa because the African Union had a Peace and Security Council with qualified majority voting. "We are not there at all," Mr Nielsen said.
The official purpose of the Peace Facility is to assist the African Union and sub-regional organisations in peacekeeping and conflict prevention.