France fully supports UN peacekeeping operations. It is the second troop contributing country among the five permanent members of the Security Council, with 940 blue helmets deployed on the ground in 8 peacekeeping operations.
France is mainly present within the UNIFIL (Lebanon), MINUSCA (Central African Republic) and MINUSMA (Mali).
France also supports the formation every year of more than 25,000 African soldiers, in 11 countries of the continent. In addition to this direct contribution, it is also present on the ground with UN authorized forces that are not blue berets.
France is the only UN Member State to deploy a national force in support of peacekeeping operations. In Mali, French operation ‘Barkhane’ supports African forces and the MINUSMA in order to fight jihadist terrorism in the region. Until 2016, French operation ‘Sangaris’ was supporting MINUSCA in the Central African Republic. France also contributes financially to African operations, like the Multinational Joint Task Force fighting against Boko Haram and the G5 Sahel Joint Force.
In this area, the Blue Line is not marked on the ground. Animals and shepherds may cross to Israel unintentionally.
France also plays a key role in terms of disarmament. It has worked for the elaboration of numerous treaties and is very involved in actions to enforce the non-proliferation regime. That is why France supported the adoption of the CTBT (Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty) and called on all States to ratify it. It is especially concerned by the development of nuclear and ballistic programs in North Korea.
France, together with its Security Council’s partners, voted in favor of the last sanctions adopted against North Korea. Our objective remains a complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Read Aso:
Honoring the Blue Berets
Monitoring the Kuwait-Iraq cease-fire
Keeping the peace