Minister Kotromanović CAF officers to be sent to UN mission in Syria

In his address Minister Kotromanović pointed out that the presence of UN forces in Syria was the opportunity to start dialogue and stabilize the country, and the fact that the Republic of Croatia through an active contribution in peacekeeping missions of the UN, NATO and the EU has already proven itself in maintaining and building peace throughout the world. “Before you is a very demanding and responsible task. By establishing an observer mission in Syria, a new phase in solving the Syrian crisis begins. I am convinced that you, thanks to your experience from the Homeland War, and to repeated participation in peace support missions, you will provide significant contribution, and justify the confidence of the international community given to CAF members”, Minister Kotromanović said.

Colonel Goran Božić and Major Vladimir Plečko, which will deployed as military observers, previously participated in UN peacekeeping missions. Colonel Božić has so far participated in the UN peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone and Sudan, and in NATO ISAF operation in Afghanistan, while Major Plečko was in the in the group of first 10 officers of the Armed Forces who participated in the UN mission in Sierra Leone (1999), the first UN mission where CAF was engaged.

UNSMIS Mission in Syria was established by the UN Security Council Resolution 2043 from 21 April 2012 and will be manned, under the current UN plan, up to the number of 300 military observers and the necessary number of civilian personnel. The resolution calls for an end of movement of government forces in the cities, stop using heavy weapons in the cities, drawing the governmental forces and heavy weapons from the cities and their environments, to ensure the cessation of armed violence, and ultimately, a permanent cessation of all forms of violence.

Sending the CAF members to UNSMIS mission in Syria was approved by the Croatian parliament by its decision from 4 May 2012.