This Mission is not about War

Background

The history of the UNFICYP mission in Cyprus dates back to the 1960s, the proclamation of the independence of Cyprus from the British rule. The official beginning of the mission was at 18:00 hours, August 16, 1974. Its major objectives have been the same ever since then. The prevention of the resumption of fights, saving law and order and the peaceful maintenance of the then experienced status quo with the continuous surveillance of the ceasefire lines and with keeping contacts between the mostly Greek-inhabited Cyprus and the Turk-inhabited Turkish Republic of Cyprus constituting the Northern side of the island, but not recognised by other countries let alone by Turkey.

With a view of discharging these duties, the United Nations divided the island into sectors, but the most important territory is the “Green Line", that is the buffer zone extending between the two parts of the island. The buffer zone is quite narrow in some places, with the smallest width being 3,5 meters, but the widest distance is not longer either than 7,5 kilometres between the two parts of the country. The cars, bicycles and other objects left alone in 1974 and still standing there abandoned ever since then mean an interesting spectacle for the tourists. The full strength of the UNFICYP mission operating with the contribution of 46 nations is currently 1079 persons, from which 860 are military personnel.

Hungary has been present in Cyprus since 1993, i.e. exactly for twenty years, our peacekeepers serve in four garrisons: in Nicosia at the headquarters of the United Nations Force in Cyprus, in Famagusta, at the 4th Sector Headquarters, in Athienou, on the base of the 1st Infantry Platoon in the St. Stephen Camp, and in the Patrol Base PB-91. The Hungarian service members are involved in various tasks within the mission: besides the personnel discharging the duties of the infantry platoon responsible for a territory of 75 square kilometres, military observer and liaison officers, military police staffs and service members in key individual positions perform service on the island. The infantry platoon’s tasks include besides the round-the-clock patrolling, i.a. the force protection of the flights in the sector and the assistance of the civilians in contact with the United Nations, but the personnel is prepared for executing crowd and riot control (CRC) tasks as well.

„One mission, one team"

One of the main topics of the discussions and briefings, conducted at various venues was the current political and security policy situation, considering the resumption of the negotiations this Spring between the Greek and the Turkish Parties on the reunification of the island of special international legal status. The expected success of these may mean new tasks and challenges next year for the entire personnel of the 50-year-old mission. The General and the members of the delegation received briefings on the cooperation between the nations, the high standard and quality of which is well reflected by the phrasing of the Slovak Lieutenant Colonel, the commander of the area of responsibility (AO) of the Hungarian Platoon (Sector 4): “one mission, one team".

It came to light from the briefing of the senior military observer and liaison officer of the Contingent Major Róbert Fekete that the UN has not noticed any grave incident for a long time, but the balance is still delicate between the two sides and mutual provocations by the Turkish forces and the population frequently occur. The patrols and the members of the contingent of other positions usually meet with three types of incidents during their service performance: infringement upon the written rules (violation of the status quo in any extent – for instance with exceeding the size of workforce, construction, or simply changing a dazzle lamp within the buffer one), actions committed against the spirit of the ceasefire (such as rattling weapons, or wearing steel helmet to cause fear in the other side), or other, mostly minor offenses committed by civilian actors (e.g. hunting within the buffer zone).

„I am proud of you…"

…Dr. Tibor Benkő said assessing the work of the Hungarian soldiers in more venues. The Head of the UNFICYP Lisa M. Buttenheim, the Force Commander of the UNFICYP General Chao Liu, and Lieutenant Colonel Miroslav Misovic, the Slovak Commander of Sector 4 equally confirmed his words. They spoke in absolute high terms about the work, the preparedness and the good cooperative skills of the Hungarian soldiers, even mentioning some of them by the name (such as for example Captain Robert Bolesza and Captain István Márkus).

During the staff meetings, discussions in Famagusta, in Athienou, in PB 91, as well as in Nicosia, held with the participation of the Hungarian peacekeepers, the Chief of Defence answered the soldiers’ previously prepared questions, mainly related to the military career, the future of the roles in missions. Then he inspected the accommodation circumstances and the recreation facilities of the personnel, and also inquired about their provision and the possibilities of keeping contact with their families.

Captain László Bárkányi, the Commander of the St. Stephen Camp coming from Kecskemét – who otherwise obtained 2nd place at the junior judo European Championship before taking up his military career – noted that the rotation has performed “45.368 kilometre patrolling and spent 864 hours in service" so far. He also said that the Christmas spent without the families might mean one of the hard times of the near future.

From among the Hungarian-related service venues, definitely the most interesting is the Patrol Base PB 91, belonging to the Athienou agglomeration, located within the zone, where altogether 8 Hungarian peacekeepers (6 patrols in three shifts and two chefs) are stationing and perform service duty. It shows the strategic weight of the tiny base, that it is situated in a distance of not more than 5 kilometres from the capital, and the zone’s width here is just 250 meters. Being aware of the presence of the opposing forces the activity of the Hungarian service members is crucial in order to maintain the stability of the territory – the Force Commander of the mission underlined during the talk conducted with the Hungarian Chief of Defence.

In the discussions, Dr. Tibor Benkő reinforced Hungary’s long-term commitment to the mission’s success, and thanked the UN Special Representative and Major General Chao Liu for their support and their high words appraising the Hungarian soldiers.