Five members of the UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) will be repatriated and will soon be replaced, according to the force`s spokesperson, Aleem Siddique.
Spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, has told the international press briefing at the UN headquarters that Ukraine has requested to withdraw remaining uniformed personnel serving with five other peacekeeping operations — Mali, Cyprus, Abyei, South Sudan and Kosovo, and that this includes 250 troops, 36 staff officers and experts on mission and 22 police officers, a total of 308 personnel from Ukraine.
There are five individuals from Ukraine who are members of UNFICYP and as the force`s spokesperson told the Cyprus News Agency (CNA), responding to a question, arrangements are being made for them to be repatriated, that is to return to Ukraine.
Siddique said that one of the five belongs to the military personnel, while the other four are police officers.
He added that the UN headquarters in New York are currently making arrangements in coordination with the troop contributing countries for their replacement, as soon as possible.
Siddique also said that UNFICYP operations continue uninterrupted.
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded and occupied 37% of its territory. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The last round of negotiations, in the summer of 2017, at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively.
Comprising military and civilian personnel from various contributing countries, UNFICYP arrived in Cyprus in March 1964 after intercommunal fighting broke out. The mandate of the force is renewed every six months by the UN Security Council.
Source: Parikiaki.com
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