Argentina plans to send a new contingent of troops to Cyprus to bolster United Nations-led peacekeeping efforts in the Mediterranean island, a top government official said Friday.
“Argentina is a country that is committed to peace and our armed forces have taken on this challenge,” Defense Minister Agustin Rossi said during the official military sendoff.
At the ceremony at a peacekeeping training base outside the capital Buenos Aires, Rossi said “our commitment to the United Nations has been continually ratified.”
The contingent comprises 249 members.
Argentina has contributed to the UN’s Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) since 1993.
Already part of the UN’s so-called “blue helmets” are 30 Argentine Air Force members, along with their Bell 212 and Hughes 500 D helicopters.
The UN launched its peacekeeping operation in Cyprus on March 27, 1964, to prevent further fighting in the prolonged territorial battle between the island’s Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots communities.
In the absence of a political resolution to the conflict, the UN Security Council has periodically expanded the UNFICYP’s presence to ensure the ceasefire and maintain a buffer zone between the fighting factions.