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Peacekeepers around the world ensure an often fragile peace. Why are we involved in distant countries while conflicts rage in Europe?
Berlin – They risk their safety to protect others. “Peacekeepers” work as part of international peace missions to promote peace and freedom in the world. Often under “very dangerous conditions”, as Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) emphasized this during a ceremony in Berlin when he honored selected German peacekeepers: men and women who “risk their own lives to help build trust” – whether in uniform or in civilian clothes, off the coast of Lebanon or in Somalia, in South Sudan or in Armenia.
While Pistorius is highlighting the work of all German forces in the world’s crisis regions on “Peacekeeping Day,” the two ministers Annalena Baerbock (Greens) and Nancy Faeser (SPD) in the front row begin to whisper. “We were already whispering,” Foreign Minister Baerbock then reveals in her speech. “Why don’t we say it in German, it’s a beautiful term: peacekeepers.”
Peacekeepers protect peace in the world wherever possible
Germany is currently involved in international peacekeeping missions with 876 people through the Foreign Office, the Interior Ministry and the Defense Ministry. These include 170 civilian experts, 639 soldiers and 67 police officers. The first German mission was met with little enthusiasm locally: in 1989/90, the Federal Border Police, today’s Federal Police, together with the then GDR People’s Police, took part in the U.N. Transition Assistance Group in Namibia – and thus in former colonial territory.
The missions are now being planned in a more reflective manner. “Security can be measured by how the weakest members of a society are doing. Security is when an expectant mother in Somalia has access to medication.” This is what Michelle Dörlemann, one of the 172 women in the German peace mission, says. The lawyer works as a Judicial Affairs Adviser for a UN mission in Somalia. She advises the African country’s judiciary, “with a focus on promoting women in political and legal dialogue,” as her profile states. How does her family deal with her job? “They are tough,” said Dörlemann during the award ceremony. Her husband is fully behind her, and without this support her work would hardly be possible.
Pistorius on Peacekeepers: “They bring confidence”
With her interpretation of international security, Dörlemann pretty much matches the German government’s vision. “Security is more than just the absence of war and violence,” explains Baerbock. “Military means alone do not create sustainable security, just as diplomacy or police forces alone do not ensure security. Security only exists when these instruments complement each other every day.”
Some may ask at this point what peacekeeping achieves in distant countries, while a great war rages in EuropeProtecting peace remains relevant even if we expand our own defense, says Defense Minister Pistorius, explaining: “Peacekeepers protect the local civilian population and secure an often extremely fragile peace. They support stable development and help to establish constitutional standards. They give people a sense of security.” And perhaps most importantly: “They bring confidence.”
German responsibility to help in crisis regions
According to this logic, the hope for a future perspective in Lebanon or Somalia has a global impact. “Peacekeeping is Turning point more relevant than ever before,” says Baerbock. Peacekeeping is in Germany’s own best interest, especially in these difficult times. “Our security is linked to other regions of the world,” argues the Green politician. The global situation also affects domestic security – and at this point Baerbock draws the connection to Ukraine War: “We woke up on February 24, 2022 in a different time. We live in a time in which we too depend on international support.”
![Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (l.), and Henning Otte (r.), Deputy Chairman of the Defense Committee, with the honored peacekeepers Katrin Lange, Michael Diers and Maik Henningsen.](https://www.merkur.de/assets/images/34/940/34940598-boris-pistorius-henning-otte-verteidigung-peacekeeper-1JrP1PycLQBG.jpg)
Pistorius largely shares this view. As a strong economic nation, Germany has a responsibility to help in crisis regions. “We have a security policy interest in preventing and containing crises before they affect our security in Germany or Europe,” says the minister. “But honesty also means that we cannot and do not want to get involved everywhere.”
The German contribution to the United Nations peacekeeping budget currently amounts to around 388.5 million US dollars. With a share of 6.4 percent of the total budget of 6.05 billion US dollars, Germany is the fourth largest contributor, according to the Federal Ministry of Defense. “As difficult as this may be for us,” says Pistorius, “our resources are also finite.”
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