Minister of Interior of the Republic of Srpska, Mr Stanislav Cadjo visited police officers of the RS Ministry of Interior who are deployed in UN Peacekeeping mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP) on May 29, 2012, on the occasion of UN Peacekeepers Day.
The Minister said that he was proud of the members of the RS MoI who are involved in UN Peacekeeping missions around the world and expressed his support and gratitude to the members of the RS MoI in the UN mission in Cyprus, Liberia and South Sudan for representing Republic of Srpska with dignity. He stated that there were 14 members of the RS Police in three UN Peacekeeping missions at the moment. The Minister emphasized that our contingent was increasing and that the RS MoI was determined to deploy more police officers according to the needs and possibilities. It is the opinion of the Minister that the experience of the RS MoI members can significantly contribute to their activities within the RS MoI.
The Minister also stated it was not easy or comfortable to live and work within the mission, and that special gratitude should be expressed to the family members of the deployed police officers, who spend a great amount of time apart.
During his visit to Nicosia, Minister Cadjo had meetings with Ms Lisa Buttenheim, Head of UNFICYP Mission and Commander Colin Speedie, Senior Police Advisor. They discussed the general conditions regarding the mission, as well as the engagement of the RS MoI members.
Miroslav Milojevic, the member of the RS MoI who currently performs the duty of the UNFICYP Deputy Senior Police Advisor, said that the visit of Minister Cadjo was the first visit of one of the BiH law enforcement officials during his three year engagement in Cyprus. He mentioned that UN Peacekeepers Day was very important to all the people who are currently deployed in the mission and they were extremely grateful to Minister Cadjo who decided to spend that day with them. Milojevic emphasized that Minister Cadjo’s visit was a great motivation to all the members of the RS MoI.
The mandate of the UN mission in Cyprus is defined in the UN Security Council Resolution, and it was established in 1964. Nowadays, it has an active role in negotiations between the leaders of the two communities in Cyprus – Greece and Turkey, in order to reach a permanent solution for Cyprus.
BiH police officers are actively involved in patrolling the buffer zone with the purpose of controlling the access of the civilians to the area, performing humanitarian activities, issuing licenses to access the buffer zone, and some of the members are police mission officials.
RS MoI has been actively involved in the peacekeeping missions since 2000. The first mission it participated in was the mission in East Timor, and after that in Liberia, Cyprus and Sudan.
The Ministry of Interior of Republic of Srpska remains committed to its further efforts and engagement in UN peacekeeping missions abroad.
