UNMIK on Air,

29 May is the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers

By: Margaret Yates

Hello and wellcome. This is UNMIK on Air,

29 May is ‘United Nations Peacekeepers day’. This date celebrates all men and women who serve and have served in United Nations Peacekeeping operations. In today’s program an overview of the United Nations mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, one of 17 UN missions worldwide.

UNMIK is divided in four sections, or so called ‘pillars’. Pillar one is dedicated to the Police and Justice system. Since 1999 UNMIK has deployed as many as 4,700 UN police officers to maintain law and order. These international policemen also helped develop a local police force in Kosovo: the KPS. Kai Vittrup is the current Police Commissioner in Kosovo.

Actuality No.1 the role our international police is doing here is extremely important, they have built up the kps, in good cooperation of course with the locals, but it’s thanks to all those officers being here since 1999 that we have reached what we have done so far. And I think this highlights the importance of international police in mission. Highlights what the international police are able to do.

UNMIK’s second pillar is dedicated to Civil Administration, pillar number three to democratization and institution building while pillar four, run by the European Union, is charged with economic reconstruction.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the OSCE, runs the third pillar. Head of the OSCE Mission to Kosovo, ambassador Werner Wnendt took up office in Pristina only recently but is not new to the region.

Actuality No. 2 you can work as I do now in a special mission in a peacekeeping, in peace implementation mission which is a great challenge and it is a very satisfying challenge and I have to tell you that sometimes I think the normal work of a diplomat in a bi-lateral mission can be quite boring. I haven't had any boring day in Bosnia and Herzegovina and I am convinced that I am not going to have a boring day in Kosovo.

Security in Kosovo is guaranteed by NATO. In 1999, 50,000 soldiers came to Kosovo to re-establish peace. At that time, the military mission in Kosovo, known as the Kosovo Force – or KFOR, was established.

Lieutenant-General Yves de Kermabon has led KFOR since September 2004. This is Yves de Kermabon’s third mission in Kosovo.

Actuality No.3 Today we are 17,500 soldiers approximately trying to change the concept and to move from a very strong presence where armored cars, weapons, helmet, baton and so on to a more flexible reactive and mobile force with a low profile to avoid being very visible around Kosovo but to remain very reactive and able to support the population to avoid incident or confrontment between different clans and disturbance in Kosovo.

Apart from serving his country in the military since 1970, Yves de Kermabon has also served with the United Nations as an international peacekeeper in Cambodia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

To work with the local population and to be aware of the history of the place where one serves is of great importance, says de Kermabon.

Actuality No. 4 the main action I think I have to do is, not only me but all the soldiers in KFOR, is to know where we are what is past of the place, what is the feeling of the people, what are their main difficulties, what they are waiting for from us in order to be in the best position to support the population and this is the common point between all my missions.

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Kosovo was at some point the biggest one in the world but is now gradually being reduced. At the same time, with missions in Haiti, Burundi, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire and Sudan expanding rapidly, there is a bigger demand for peacekeepers then ever before.

And that would be all for today. Stay tuned!