International Peacekeeping: “Blue Helmets are the premium tool”

The United Nations deploy Peacekeepers to regions of crisis all across the globe to prevent violence and provide stability. Military personnel, police forces, and civilian aid workers from countless nations cooperate closely to that end. A conference on UNUnited Nations Peacekeeping hosted by Germany aims to set the course for the future of the Blue Helmets. 

For the first time, Germany will host the UNUnited Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial on 13 and 14 May 2025. About 150 nations were invited to this biennial conference hosted, this time, by the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry of Defence. “The positive feedback regarding the conference shows that the UNUnited Nations’s international crisis management is of paramount importance to many countries around the world”, Dr Jasper Wieck told “Nachgefragt” host Jan Czarnitzki. A quick look at the world map was enough to understand the underlying reasons, the Director-General for Security and Defence Policy at the Federal Ministry of Defence said. “The map shows a large number of crises and conflicts: Domestic conflicts between ethnic groups as well as interstate conflicts about how borders were drawn.”

70,000 Blue Helmets deployed around the world

The United Nations Security Council is responsible for peace and security across the globe. “The missions of the Blue Helmets are the premium tool the UNUnited Nations uses to live up to this responsibility”, Wieck said. 70,000 military personnel, police forces, and civilian aid workers are currently deployed in eleven peacekeeping missions. However, the United Nations does not have troops, equipment, or vehicles at its disposal. Instead, it relies on support from its member states. “This can only work if nations are willing to provide capabilities – military personnel, police officers, equipment”, Wieck pointed out. The Peacekeeping Ministerial aims to determine country contributions for ongoing and future peacekeeping missions. Furthermore, the future of peacekeeping and the adaptation of peace missions to the new security situation around the world are to be discussed in Berlin. 

Since the 1990s, Germany has been contributing to UNUnited Nations stabilisation missions. At present, the Bundeswehr provides Blue Helmets to UNUnited Nations missions off the coast of Lebanon, in Western Sahara, and in South Sudan, Wieck explained. In addition, German police forces and civilian aid workers support missions in Somalia, in Kosovo, and in South Sudan. “On top of the personnel we provide, Germany’s contributions to capacity building among large troop-contributing countries are considerable”, Wieck remarked. The UNUnited Nations Training Centre in Hammelburg prepares peacekeepers for their deployment. Germany also supports friendly nations. He further said: “This is a crucial contribution and has become our trademark of sorts in the United Nations“. As the fourth-largest financial contributor to the UNUnited Nations, Germany also provides considerable funding to peace missions.

Peacekeeping on Lebanon’s coast

We had another guest on our show: Commander (N) Kenneth Harms. He is the spokesperson for the Navy at the Federal Ministry of Defence and has been deployed to UNIFILUnited Nations Interim Force in Lebanon off the coast of Lebanon several times. Right on the border with Israel, 11,000 Blue Helmets from 40 countries serve under the UNIFILUnited Nations Interim Force in Lebanon flag to prevent fighting. 

“UNIFILUnited Nations Interim Force in Lebanon is special as it is the only UNUnited Nations mission with a maritime component”, Harms explained. “Germany has been involved in this mission uninterruptedly since 2006. We deploy warships to this mission.”

The Navy’s mission is clear-cut, Harms said. It is focused on maritime surveillance and on enforcing an arms embargo. “The ultimate goal is to prevent Hezbollah from receiving weapons deliveries.” In addition, the Lebanese armed forces are trained and enabled so that they can protect their coastline in the future. “Our mission will not be accomplished until the Lebanese navy can provide for its own security along the Lebanese coastline“, the Navy spokesperson said.

Security interests in Africa and the Middle East

Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine in February 2022, the Bundeswehr has been refocusing on national and collective defence. However, as a trading nation and economic powerhouse, Germany must not turn a blind eye to global conflicts, Wieck pointed out. “Global trade is the basis of prosperity for the people in our country. A crisis in our neighbourhood can quickly impact our security“. He cited North Africa, the Sahel region, or the Middle East as examples. “We have a genuine security interest in getting these conflicts under control.“ Wieck said. This is why the UNUnited Nations Peacekeeping Ministerial will also focus on how regional organisations such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWASEconomic Community of West African States) can ease the burden of the United Nations in the area of peacekeeping.