07.07.2010.

Serbian peacekeepers off to Chad and the Central African Republic

Medical team of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces, which are to participate in the third rotation in the United Nations peacekeeping mission MINURCAT in Chad and Central African Republic, left today the airport Batajnica in aircraft of the United Nations for the African continent.

It will be for the first time that fourteen members of our defence system will participate in the peacekeeping mission in Chad and Central African Republic independently. At the request of the United Nations, after the withdrawal of the Norwegian deployable hospital, within the contingent of which the Serbian team was previously deployed, the members from Serbia continued their engagement in the peacekeeping mission. There has been 27 "blue helmets" from our country engaged in the MINURCAT mission so far, including six women.

Chief of the SAF GS Peacekeeping Operations Centre, Colonel Jelesije Radivojevi?, wished the Serbian peacekeepers headed by Colonel Nebojša ?eni? a nice trip and a successful mission.

He recalled that the National Assembly has recently adopted the Annual Plan for sending to multinational operations and that in addition to Chad the members of MoD and SAF are envisaged to participate also in Liberia, Congo, Ivory Coast, as well as in Lebanon and Cyprus.

"The two new missions will be a milestone for the further engagement because our Government and Parliament recognize the missions as an essential element of the Serbian foreign policy", Colonel Radivojevi? said adding that this would strengthen the position of our country showing that we are able to be a factor of peace and security in the region and wherever needed.

He stressed that the interest for the peacekeeping operations was impressive, since there are more than 3,500 people in the defence system interested in the engagement in missions.

According to the Chief of the Peacekeeping Operations Centre, there are about 40 members of the defence system currently engaged in missions around the world, and as he announced, the plan is that more than 100 Serbian peacekeepers be assigned this year to the blue helmets.

The Medical team of the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces is to replace the group that went to such mission in October last year, and the task of our peacekeepers will be, as it was to date, the care and treatment of personnel engaged in the mission, as well as the local population in the role one deployable hospital .