The head of UN peacekeeping operations laments the divisions in the Security Council

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, head of United Nations peacekeeping operations (known as the Blue Helmets), this Thursday criticized divisions among the great powers at the UN Security Council, saying that divisions weaken those forces.

However, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations since 2017, boasted of a long list of countries, especially in Africa, that have benefited from “millions of men and women serving under the flag of the United Nations” since 1948.

The United Nations Peacekeepers turn 75 on Monday, which is celebrated annually as International Blue Helmet Day.

Guterres pays tribute to 103 Blue Helmets killed in 2022

However, this year, due to a long holiday in the United States (in connection with the celebration of “Memorial Day”), this Thursday the UN celebrated the 75th anniversary in memory of “more than 4200 (blue helmets) killed for the cause of peace” since 1948 , according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

In a speech cited by international agencies, Lacroix lamented that, 75 years after the creation of the Blue Helmets, UN member states were divided, saying that these divisions interfere with the work of peacekeepersnamely because of the impasses that often arise in the Security Council, the highest organ of the United Nations because of his ability to make resolutions binding.

The spokesman said that the UN now has “more difficulty in achieving the ultimate goals of peacekeeping: secondment, support for the implementation of peace agreements.

More than 87,000 people from 125 countries are currently involved in 12 peacekeeping operations around the world: Lebanon, Mali, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cyprus, India and Pakistan, among others.

Lacroix recalled that “the international community was much more cohesive” in its origins, noting that in various war scenarios, the role of the Blue Helmets became more vulnerable due to divisions within the United Nations.

An example of these difficulties, according to Jean-Pierre Lacroix, can be found in Mali, where French soldiers were forced to leave the territory when Russia (which is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and which has veto power) called in mercenaries from the Wagner group to attack on them.

Germany, which has made the largest contribution to this operation in this African country, with 1,000 peacekeepers, confirmed in early May the withdrawal of its troops within a year.