LONDON [MENL] -- The European Union has agreed to launch its first security operation in the Middle East.

European Union foreign ministers have approved a three-year police training mission for the Palestinian Authority. The ministers agreed that the program would to help build a "sustainable and effective" PA police force.

"The mission will support the Palestinian Authority in establishing sustainable and effective police arrangements," the ministers said in a statement on Monday.

Officials said this would be the first EU security mission in the Middle East. They said the EU would organize a team of 50, including trainers and financial advisers in an effort to teach the PA how to build, manage and finance a police force.