BRUSSELS, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The 60th anniversary of UN peacekeeping
operations is a milestone in maintaining international peace, European Union
(EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana said here Thursday.
"Today we mark the 60th anniversary of UN peacekeeping operations. This is
a milestone for international efforts to promote peace and protect the
vulnerable," he said in a statement issued on the occasion.
Around the world, "UN officials -- both soldiers and civilians -- are
taking risks for peace and are enabling war-torn societies to overcome conflicts
and return to the path of reconciliation and reconstruction," Solana said.
"UN peacekeeping operations have come a long way, in both conceptual and
operational terms, since the first mission was launched in 1948," he said. "From
purely military missions dealing with wars between states, they have become
multidimensional, dealing mainly with intrastate conflicts."
Though some 100,000 people are currently involved in 20 operations around
the world with an annual budget of 8 billion U.S. dollars, the demand for UN
peacekeeping engagement "continues to grow".
Solana said that peacekeeping operations "are an essential part of the
policy mix, providing the space in which a fragile peace can take hold and
become self-sustaining."
During the past 60 years, "there is much that the UN has achieved in the
area of peacekeeping," the EU official said.
"But at the same time, we should realize that there is even more work still
to be done," he added.
On the EU's role in this respect, Solana said that the bloc "has formed a
partnership with the UN to work together in the area of crisis management", and
cited EU missions in the Balkans, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The first UN peacekeeping mission was established in 1948, when the
Security Council authorized the deployment of UN military observers to the
Middle East to monitor the Armistice Agreement between Israel and its Arab
neighbors. Since then, there have been some 63 UN peacekeeping operations around
the world.
