Thank you Mr. Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Serbia^*, Albania^*, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina^*, and the potential candidate country Georgia, align themselves with this statement.

Mr. Chair,

We believe that UN Peacekeeping is a key tool to enhance global security and peace and we fully support the Secretary General’s efforts to reform UN Peacekeeping.

The EU and its Member States are vastly committed to UN Peacekeeping endeavours. We jointly cover one quarter of the UN’s Peacekeeping budget and we currently deploy close to 5000 uniformed personnel to Peacekeeping Operations. We have established an EU-UN strategic partnership on peace operations and crisis management and, furthermore, cooperation on the ground between the EU CSDP Missions and UN Peacekeeping Operations, is very strong. In addition, I would like to mention that the EU is also responsible for Operations directly mandated by the Security Council, such Operation IRINI and ALTHEA.

Mr. Chair,

UN Peacekeeping missions are confronted with a large number of challenges, such as regional threats, effects of climate change, mis and disinformation, increased presence of non-state actors like private military companies, trans-national criminal activities, eroding support from host nation governments and communities and, sometimes, a lack of capacities and adequate equipment to address such situations on the ground.

Nevertheless, PKO’s continue to play a critical role in creating conditions favourable to the peace process and to de-escalate tension and protecting civilians, including through monitoring and reporting on human rights violations.

Mr. Chair,

We welcome the Secretary-General’s proposal in the New Agenda for Peace to “undertake a reflection on the limits and future of Peacekeeping” and we recognize the emphasis put on the primacy of politics. Revitalized political processes are key conditions for the success of Peacekeeping Operations.

We believe that the New Agenda for Peace offers viable ideas to make Peacekeeping fit for purpose and we need to identify a clear set of tools to be able to address crisis situations and create synergies between the UN, regional organizations and other missions.

In this regards, we confirm our support to the on-going discussions to use UN assessed contributions for African-led Peace Support Operations authorized by the UN Security Council, on the basis of the conclusions of the UN Secretary General’s report and in compliance with relevant agreed standards and mechanisms, including the implementation of the AU human rights compliance framework.

We also believe that the Summit of the Future offers a clear opportunity in fostering this discussion and we encourage a greater effort to make further progress on the A4P and A4P+ strands of work.

Mr. Chair,

We are concerned by the intensifying threats posed to Peacekeepers by malicious players, such as non-state actors, armed groups and terrorists as well as the rise in direct attacks against Peacekeepers, like recently happened in one of our own member states. We are also increasingly preoccupied by uncooperative actions from certain host States and the increasing employment of mercenaries to fill the security vacuum with. Therefore, Protection of Peacekeepers and accountability for crimes against Peacekeepers must remain high on our agenda.

We recognise the importance of providing the UN Peacekeeping Operations with the adequate resources necessary to function effectively and to fulfil their given mandate, recognizing that PKO’s expenditures are also constrained by the effects of extreme weather events in already-vulnerable settings. We confirm our commitment and we call on all Member States to fulfil financial obligations in a timely manner both for the regular and the Peacekeeping budgets. We underscore the generous extra budgetary contribution pledged by many EU Member States in support of DPO and DOS projects.

Mr. Chair,

The EU and its Members States recognize the importance of a stronger integration of the objectives of the Women, Peace and Security agenda into the UN Peacekeeping. We welcome continued efforts of Member States and the United Nations Secretariat to increase women’s participation in Peacekeeping Operations at all levels, including leadership positions and we recognize the importance of gender-responsive work environments, including zero tolerance to sexual exploitation and abuse.

We also stress the critical role of strategic communication, information and intelligence, situational awareness through integrated information acquisition and analysis processes. Therefore, we welcome the Secretary General’s Digital Transformation Strategy, which will also help to tackling both misinformation and disinformation.

As many Peacekeeping Operations are deployed in regions highly exposed to the effects of climate change, we should systematically support the integration of environmental management processes and climate-related considerations into their activities. In this regard we highly appreciate the role of the Climate Security Mechanism and we look forward to the forthcoming Environment Strategy 2030. Furthermore we urge to enhance the Operational Resilience of Peacekeeping Operations through the increased deployment of renewable energy systems and the reduction in the consumption of energy and water.  

Finally, we should work together to strengthen the human rights components of Peacekeeping missions, as they play a vital role in documenting violations and protecting their victims, contributing to the fight against impunity, especially when it comes to war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide.

EU Members States will continue to support Peacekeeping and contribute productively to the work of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations (C34), which is a crucial forum for the implementation of the Secretary General’s Action for Peacekeeping. In this regard, I would like to recall that on the recent inter-sessional negotiation the EU has, once again, played a positive role in bringing together all the regional groups.

I thank you.

* North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.