Negotiations underway to expand Armenia’s peacekeeping forces in Lebanon
No new directions for Armenia’s peacekeeping missions abroad are considered, Lieutenant-General Artur Simonyan, Commander of the Brigade of Peacekeeping Forces of the Ministry of Defense, stated, adding, however, discussions are held over expanding Armenia’s peacekeeping forces in Lebanon.
The Lieutenant-General informed negotiations were held with a general of the Italian army who suggested to bring the matter [expansion of the peacekeeping forces] to the consideration of the authorities. “the Italian side has showed a desire to increase the number of Armenian peacekeepers to 100, however no dates are clarified yet,” Simonyan detailed.
In his words, those discussions are an indicative of the efficiency of Armenian peacekeeping missions and the fact how Armenian servicemen are valued by the commanders of peacekeeping missions.
“Each soldier represents himself as an ambassador to introduce his state. I assure all those ambassadors prove themselves in the best way,” the Lieutenant-General said.
Deputy Commander Ashot Zakharyan who used to serve in the Armenian peacekeeping brigade in Lebanon in 2014 as a UN observer, recalled an incident of escalation on the Lebanon-Israeli border with a risk of local clashes.
“With a French Major and an Italian Captain under my command we succeeded to bring the army representatives of the conflicting sides to the negotiations table and smooth the matter without a bloodshed,” Zakharyan remembered.
Artur Simonyan added that Armenian brigades implementing peacekeeping missions are able to conduct real service in all hot spots, engaged with demining, antiterrorist actions, etc.