Now that the UN is marking its 60th anniversary, much has been written about Ukraine’s peacekeeping initiatives, which represent our country’s substantial contribution to UN efforts and are improving Ukraine’s international image. Understandably, Ukrainian peacekeepers need attention, social security, and appropriate legislation, and not just on major holidays. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is constantly monitoring the operations of all Ukrainian peacekeeping contingents and the training of blue helmet units for assignments outside Ukraine. General Staff experts travel to duty locations of Ukrainian contingents to address problems wherever they may arise. Major General Oleksandr Kopanytsia has just returned from a tour of inspection of our peacekeeping force in Liberia. Kopanytsia is the deputy head of the General Staff and chief of the Main Directorate for Humanitarian Issues and Social Security of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
“How does your working group assess the Ukrainian contingent’s performance in Liberia?”
“The purpose of this trip was to examine the situation in the 56th Detached Helicopter Unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In all honesty I would say that this unit is fulfilling its tasks in a worthy manner and representing Ukraine internationally at the UN Mission. It is a consolidated team that knows its tasks well and fulfills them very professionally. Our pilots’ efforts and their attitude to assignments have received high praise from the heads of the UN Mission to Liberia. I spoke to UN representatives in this country, in particular the Mission’s deputy chief, the staff of the human rights protection department, the head of the military section, and officials of various other UN structures. They say that Ukrainian helicopter pilots are carrying out missions that are difficult but extremely crucial for Liberia. They transport cargo and people and perform special assignments from the Mission in difficult weather conditions.
“The unit maintains a 30 to 40-minute response capability, i.e., it has to start performing its mission within half an hour after receiving an order, regardless of the time of day or day of the week. It must act professionally and responsibly in all circumstances. Our military personnel fully meet these requirements.”
“After the recent scandal involving Ukrainian peacekeepers in Lebanon, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense officially declared that General Staff representatives regularly inspect all other Ukrainian contingents to prevent all kinds of violations, of which the UN has accused Ukraine.”
“That is correct. My task was also to verify how the command of our peacekeepers responds to UN requirements and how our peacekeepers implement the provisions of the UN General Secretary’s bulletin of October 2003, in particular provisions prescribing the conduct of blue helmets toward the local population. Let’s face it, problems of a “sexual nature” are cropping up in many nations’ peacekeeping contingents in different UN missions, and the UN is taking great care to prevent them. According to the human rights department of the UN Mission in Liberia, these kinds of problems between the blue helmets and the local population have happened before. The conduct of peacekeepers that were part of the previous tour in Liberia has been already assessed, and this assessment will soon be publicized as part of the Ukrainian defense minister’s resolution. During the previous tour there were certain problems affecting the interaction between the Ukrainian contingent’s command and local structures, which complicated the task of ensuring proper conduct on the part of the Ukrainian personnel. There were also disciplinary problems. All of these cases have been thoroughly analyzed and conclusions have been drawn.”
“Speaking of “sexual problems,” it is hard to imagine that women of easy virtue, so to speak, for example in Iraq, where our peacekeepers are also stationed, would openly solicit foreign military personnel, given this country’s cultural traditions. Meanwhile, the situation in African countries is completely different. The UN ensures that blue helmets in these contingents are supplied with condoms. What is the Ukrainian military leadership’s position on this sensitive issue?”
“There is only one answer to this question. The Ukrainian military leadership’s position should be based, and is based, on the requirements of the Blue Helmets Code of Conduct, which outlines all norms of conduct for international contingents operating under the UN flag. This UN code clearly defines all moral and ethical requirements for peacekeeping contingents. This document, much like the UN General Secretary’s bulletin mentioned earlier, clearly states that peacekeeping personnel operating under the UN flag must refrain under all circumstances from such contacts with the local population.
“This position is understandable. On the one hand, they have organized disease prevention by supplying condoms. This is nothing more than elementary care on the part of the UN leadership for the health of its peacekeepers. On the other hand, each peacekeeper must always remember that while fulfilling missions as part of the contingent, he represents not only himself but his country and the entire UN on the territory of a foreign nation. This is very important. After all, it must be understood that peacekeeping contingents operate in countries where the situation is largely unstable. These countries are in a state of civil war or have just emerged from one. There are conflicts in their societies. Their social sphere is in a state of crisis, and in certain cases the population might respond inappropriately to ‘ambiguous’ situations, so to speak, especially when they involve a foreign military presence, even one operating under the flag of peacekeeping. In this case the conduct of peacekeepers must be extremely balanced. Therefore, the UN’s strict requirements for its peacekeepers are completely justified.”
“Could you elaborate on the interaction between the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and UN structures in terms of organizing the activity of peacekeeping contingents.”
“This interaction underlies the organization of Ukrainian peacekeeping activities. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces includes the Department for Euro-Atlantic Integration head ed by Major General Leonid Holopatiuk. This particular structure handles liaison between our defense department and the UN concerning peacekeeping efforts. Through this department our military receives guidelines, according to which we organize the training of peacekeepers and their activity as part of international contingents.
“Monitoring how these documents are implemented during the training or organizing of peacekeeping activities is the task of the army command, as defined in corresponding regulations of Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
“What is your assessment of our peacekeepers’ living conditions in Africa?”
“The conditions created for the personnel of the 56th Detached Helicopter Unit are quite acceptable at present. The men’s living quarters are air-conditioned. They have a well-equipped canteen, staff rooms, shower rooms, and a complete diet. In my view, there is one more problem to resolve, namely the need to organize some form of recreation for the peacekeepers. I saw how this is being done in other contingents in Liberia — the Swedish, Irish, and Pakistani. We also need to build sports facilities and outfit them with sports equipment.
“Questions of spirituality should be also given adequate attention. The world cultures room at our camp looks more like an office. I decided to turn it into a real recreation room with a television set and audio equipment. The peacekeepers supported this idea enthusiastically. In my view, full recreation guarantees that an appropriate level of discipline will be maintained. This cannot be ignored.”
“Finally, our men are returning home, where the question arises of providing them with social security commensurate with their status as peacekeepers. The need to ‘legitimize’ the status of Ukrainian peacekeepers by passing a bill on peacekeeping has been discussed for years. Do you expect a bill like that any time soon?”
“Indeed, individual enactments address the question of social security benefits for this category of Ukrainian military personnel, but there is no single document that would clearly and comprehensively define the parameters of social security benefits for peacekeepers. Nonetheless, work on such a bill is already in progress. Notably, now that dynamic reforms and reductions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces are in progress, the country’s military command is focusing on amending current legislation, which would define social security benefits for military personnel and their family members in line with current needs. The bill on social security for peacekeepers should be drafted in keeping with the provisions of this more global document.
“This kind of bill is crucial. Taking into account Ukraine’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration and its striving to bring our laws in line with current European legislation, as well as the scale of Ukraine’s peacekeeping efforts and the trends behind their increase, sooner or later we will face an urgent need to address all the social security problems of peacekeepers in a single document. People who serve in peacekeeping contingents that represent Ukraine abroad must have comprehensive social security.”
