The deputies of the Parliament backed the Kazakh President’s proposal to send peacekeeping forces of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan to the UN missions, Minister of Defense Ruslan Zhaksylykov said at the joint meeting of the Parliament chambers in Nur-Sultan on Thursday, Kazinform correspondent reports.
«Until now the military personnel of the Kazakh Armed Forces has been sent to the United Nations peacekeeping missions to fulfill international obligations on maintaining peace and security in accordance with the decrees of the Parliament of Kazakhstan. Since 2014, 45 Kazakh officers have participated in the UN missions in Western Sahara, Côte d’Ivoire, and Lebanon as military observers and staff officers. Since 2018, 520 Kazakhstani military servants have served in the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon. Six and nine Kazakh militaries are serving in the UN missions in Western Sahara and Lebanon, respectively,» Minister Zhaksylykov read out the President’s proposal.
«The UN leadership highly evaluates the level of training of our military personnel and expresses readiness to support an increase in the number of Kazakhstani peacekeepers in the UN missions.
Sending the militaries to the UN peacekeeping operations not only significantly contributes to the global security strengthening, but also helps promote the authority and the role of Kazakhstan at the international arena. The latest events occurring in the region and the world testify to the emergence of new risks and challenges to regional and national security, some of which may require a military response. Therefore, the issue of further strengthening the armed forces’ combat skills and getting practical experience in countering modern threats gains significant importance. In this context, I think it is expedient to expand the engagement of Kazakhstan’s Armed Forces in the UN peacekeeping missions in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mali. Kazakhstan is ready to send both individual military servants as officers and military observers as well as specialized divisions which are most in-demand in the UN missions. They are infantry squads, medical troops, reconnaissance, engineer, and military police units. – Kabar