The UN requests logistical support from the European Union
(BRUSSELS2) Helicopters and airplanes. This is what UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has asked several of his European interlocutors in recent days, in particular Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the EU when she came to Brussels yesterday (Monday 16 April ). Request reiterated publicly today in Luxembourg, during his visit to the Grand Duchy. The international observer mission in Syria - which is relatively small (200 observers) compared to the tasks to be performed and the country - needs additional communication and travel logistics, including planes and helicopters, he said. explain. And the United Nations is counting on the help and support of Europeans and the European Union.
Waiting for a formal request
A request of course heard in Brussels. This demand for means of transport is closely examined by the Member States - notably in Italy and the Czech Republic - and the EU's diplomatic service (EEAS). European crisis management officials have been “ in touch on several occasions in recent weeks with their counterparts from the DPKO, the UN's department of peacekeeping operations. But “we are waiting for a formal and concrete request” of the UN, I was told at the EEAS, as well as " acceptance by the Syrian authorities of their deployment and use". This equipment is, however, a rare commodity in the Member States and everything depends on their "potential".
A mission of 300 observers
Six observers have already arrived in the country on Sunday, the day the UN resolution was voted on. Under the leadership of Moroccan Colonel Ahmed Himmiche, this team will be reinforced today and tomorrow to reach 13 people. First objective: identify the terrain, make the first contacts and establish the headquarters. They will be 30 in the end for this preparatory mission. But the UN Secretary General is preparing a new decision - which will be discussed tomorrow in New York - for the observation mission to be provided with 300 people.
(Updated April 20) The European Union is “ in contact with the DPKO to precisely define the needs that they could address to the EU said a senior European diplomat today (20 April). United Nations observers could not only " need means of transport (helicopters, planes) but also vehicles (armoured) and satellite images.”This list of needs is currently under review. It could lead quickly. It should be recalled that the European Union has a stock of rapid intervention vehicles in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the result of European disengagement in this country (see also:Police mission in Bosnia downsizes, details). As for the recruitment of observers, it takes place normally directly between the DPKO and the Member States”, often drawn from elsewhere in the forces already deployed in the region. NB: some States have already promised means of transport, Italy for example.
